David Giles claims his friendship is for sale

Speaking of Skeletor, this is an exert a blog reader sent in from Revell and Remple's drug trafficking trial that David Giles was involved in. It contains yet another statement Giles made on wiretap and once again shows what kind of a selfish backstabbing piece of garbage he really is and what kind of organization he has created.

“[212] On the evening of June 14, 2005, members of the EEHA in Kelowna had a “church” meeting (the name of their weekly meetings) in the Kelowna clubhouse. The police intercepted a conversation between Giles, Verna and others. In it, Giles made the following comments that the Crown submits represent “his views toward the club and how they motivate and guide every aspect of his dealings with other people”:

“There isn’t one fuckin’ citizen out there, not one that I socialize with, talk to or have anything to do with, (clattering sounds) that it isn’t planted in my head, what can I get from him for here. What’s he gonna do for me that’s gonna benefit this House. Somewhere down the line. Is he gonna come here and spend money? Is he gonna use my fuckin’ name and if he is, in any way, shape or form, ‘cause it’s only by pretext (big bang, believed to be fist on table), I want somethin’ on the fuckin’ table. And I wanna get, I want a donation, I want somethin’. And if I ain’t gettin’ it, then leave…And he ain’t gonna get the fuckin’ friendship here, and…, and socialize and chase pussy out of my fuckin’ room. Period. And that’s how I feel everybody should think. “Cause this ain’t about what it can do for you, it’s supposed to be what you can do for the Club. That’s what it’s supposed to be…”

Ricky Ciarniello and the Devil’s Butler

Last month I found this picture of Ricky Ciarniello and David Black from the Satan’s Angels taken back in 1977 on Kim Bolan’s new web site about the Hells Angels. Black was the president of the group and Ciarniello was the treasurer.

The Vancouver Satan’s Angels patched over to become Hells Angels in 1983 and Ricky Ciarniello is referred to as the spokesperson for the Hells Angels in Vancouver. The first thing that came to mind was why the hell are they holding up a flag with a Nazi swastika on it? Then I find out that Ricky’s pal David Black was convicted along with several others from that group of kidnapping and torturing a guy they referred to as their butler. That case was described in detail in Simma Holt’s book The Devil’s Butler.

This picture was taken in 1977. The kidnapping and torture of the butler took place in 1968. Ricky C would have been 17. One blog reader noted that one of the news reports about the kidnapping stated there was a 17 year old with them who was charged. We don’t know if that was Ricky C or not but the timing is worth investigating.

The point is, Ricky C denies everything. When a Hells Angel or associate gets caught trafficking drugs or committing a crime he says he’s not with us or in the case like Bryce Jr. where it’s obvious he was, he says he was acting on his own not for the club. Which in the case of EPandora is simply not true.

Although we can’t prove that Ciarniello was with the mob of misfits who kidnapped and tortured that butler, we can prove he associated with them for many years afterwards. To me, that is not the kind of association to brag about. They were not innocent nor were they acting on their own in the commission of that crime. Sadly, it wasn’t their first offence either.

I had a peak at the book The Devil’s Butler and found some interesting things. Initial wiretaps played in court recorded a telephone conversation between a member of the Satan’s Angels and the clubhouse saying we’ve found another butler. Another butler. That clearly implies this was not the first time they did this kind of horrendous stunt.

The investigation started after the January 11 1968 murder of a prospect named Sydney McDonald in the Satan’s Angels clubhouse at 3604 Napier Street in Vancouver. Robert James, a member of the club, beat him to death with a metal rod because he wanted to see what it felt like to kill a man. His girlfriend pleaded with him to stop but he refused. She ended up testifying against him in court.

After that murder the RCMP got a warrant for a wiretap in the clubhouse. Shortly thereafter they heard the conversations about the kidnapping of a new butler which is what the book is predominately about. Yet as the blog reader who claims to have a copy of the book points out, the book also describes several other incidents as well. One was a vicious gang rape on two young girls. Another was the gang rape in Monterey and the stabbing of Meredith Hunter at the rolling Stones concert all around that time period.

So the book wasn’t just about the Satan’s Angels in Vancouver but included some other cases that involved the Hells Angels in California as well. It does however go into detail about the trial involving the devil’s butler and mentions other cases that the Vancouver group was also involved.

The book does mention that the clubhouse on Napier Street was filled with Nazi symbols just like the one Ricky Ciarniello and David Black are holding up in the picture. I find that disturbing. For a group that claims it’s origin to a military squad, they are clearly fighting for the wrong team. We fought the Nazi’s in the war. We did not embrace the racism that filled the ovens with innocent victims.

Although the butler in this case survived to testify in court, the details of what they did to him are very disturbing. One blog reader claims the book states they sodomized him with a broom stick. I didn’t get that far in the book but I did read how they took turns scraping his scrotum and testicles with a bristle broom.

They made him stand naked in a bucket holding the broom and ordered him to dance to the music and whack off. Why on earth would a group of guys do that? Why one earth would a group of guys find that entertaining? 15 guys sitting around watching a naked guy standing in a bucket whack off. There are some real deep seeded issues here that we need Dr. Phil to help straighten out. That is not normal and it sure ain’t manly.

Sodomizing, taking turns scraping his testicles with the bristles of a broom, how is that fun? It reminds me of how Tony Terezakis video taped himself beating the life out of crack addicts that owed him money. When they replayed the video in court Tony couldn’t hold back the laughter. There is something seriously wrong there that needs to be addressed. It is mentally deranged.

The torture of the butler continued in various forms including putting his naked body in an ice bath. Again why the obsession with torturing him naked? There really seems to be some perverse tendencies there.

Here we have a group of social misfits, obsessing over Nazi symbols and paraphernalia, who enjoy torturing people. The deranged torture is a huge concern as is the Nazi obsession. Mom Boucher and Salvatore Cazzetta formed their own white supremacist biker club called the SS. Salvatore ended up forming the Rock Machine but crossed over to join the Hells Angels in Montreal. Clearly the Montreal Hells Angels also have a Nazi lover’s obsession. No wonder the Bo Bars didn’t want to sell drugs for them.

Next time Ricky Ciarniello does an interview for the press, we need to ask him about the Devil’s Butler. Was he the 17 year old present? How can he rationalize associating with that group of men for so many years? What does Ricky C have to say about the Devil’s Butler? Even that book has a Nazi flag on it. What does Ricky C have to say about his Nazi obsession in our multi cultural society? This case fits in with our New Years theme from Pitbull. To understand the future we have to go back in time. Just like the case of Skeletor's First Stolen Motorcycle.

The Year of the Snake

Somehow the year of the snake doesn’t seem quite as dramatic as the year of the Dragon, yet I don’t think the snake has the same negative associations in the Chinese culture that it does in the Western culture. When we think of a snake, we think of a lying, back stabbing snake in the grass. Kinda like most of our politicians. However in the Chinese tradition a snake represents wisdom and good luck. Happy lunar New Year. Let’s hope it’s a good one. The Spring Festival parade in Vancouver is next Suday. It's their 40th year. Next up: Lantern festival and cherry blossoms. Gong Ho Fat Choy.

Cranbrook murder goes to trial

*OK this is a pretty confusing case. I'm going to have to do some more work on it.* John Garry Shanks becomes police informant. Well this guy looks like a real winner. Here we have a drug dealer in Cranbrook with an extensive criminal record and he’s the one that becomes the police agent. Go figure.

This case is the tragic story of a double murder in Cranbrook where they murdered the wrong people who rented the home after the rival drug dealer they were trying to kill moved out. It is of course tied to the Hells Angels. One of the accused Chad Munroe, was an associate of Mission Hells Angel Jason Arkinstall. The investigation is referred to as E-Portamento.

The accused were involved in the drug trade in Cranbrook. The object (of the murder) was to control the drug trade in the East Kootenays. The target was a rival drug dealer named Doug Mahon who had been charged with shooting Hells Angel associate Chad Munroe back in 2009. The trial is scheduled to continue Thursday.

Kelowna Pinheads relocate near school

After abandoning their fruit stand, the Kingpin Crew have relocated near an elementary school in Kelowna. That is not good. Perhaps they plan on using the kids as human shields against the next car bomb. Maybe they want to corner the market on stolen bicycles and lunch money. That sounds more like their mentality. Who knows what those clowns are up to.

When someone said they relocated to Mission I thought they meant here on the coast beside Abbotsford. Turns out Mission Springs is in Kelowna. So they’re still polluting the lovely Okanagan with their toxic waste.

If they were involved with Johnny Newcome’s stolen car ring, then they are a criminal organization. Surely the City can nail them on bylaw infractions since businesses need a license to operate and criminal organizations in residential areas would clearly be a zoning violation.

Speaking of Johnny Newcome’s stolen car ring tied to the Hells angels, prosecutors have slapped another 12 theft-related charges against him for possession of more stolen property including a stolen Harley. Rats, That is what they are. Stolen cars, boats and motorcycles. Low life rats.

MLA wants ineffective GVRD scrapped

I was reading through the archives of the May 6 1977 Vancouver Sun and came across an interesting article about the GVRD written thirty five years ago. It reads: “Delta MLA Walter Davidson has asked Municipal Affairs Minister Hugh Curtis to disband the Greater Vancouver Regional district as it is presently constituted.

In an open letter to the minister, the Socred MLA calls the GVRD a costly bureaucratic and ineffective organization. As taxpayers, we can no longer afford the stupidity and extravagance of financing an organization which refuses to accept even it’s basic common objectives.

The Socred MLA says Curtis should disband the present regional district and in keeping with it’s party’s commitment return to local government that authority which has been the traditional responsibility of local government.

The Delta MLA says petty politics have destroyed both the effectiveness and the credibility of the GVRD. In another letter, this one to GVRD chairman Major Jack Campbell of Port Coquitlam Davidson asks how massive expenditures of public funds on an organization like the GVRD can be justified.

Ironically enough, thirty five years later we have an editorial in the Vancouver Province expressive concerns about the GVRD now known as Metro Vancouver after their insane proposal to start a regional sales tax to fund their extravagance. Perhaps we should have acted on Walter Davidson’s’ letter thirty five years ago.

Normally decentralization of power is a good thing. Yet duplication, bureaucracy and extravagance are not. If a local mayor wants to create a municipal sales tax in their city, just watch how far that gets them. What we need is fiscal responsibility not reckless spending and insider trading.

To live and die in LA

On blog reader sent in this picture and story about how the LAPD opened fired on a car driven by two innocent women delivering papers just because they thought it looked like a car of a wanted felon. They didn't even match the plate number. There’s a whole series of problems here. Shoot first ask questions later is a violation of the constitutional right to a fair trial, as well as the protection from arbitrary searches and seizures. I don’t think they actually wrote in protection from arbitrarily getting shot by the police in the constitution, but the intent is clearly there.

“Two women who were delivering newspapers in Torrance, Calif., early Thursday were shot by jittery Los Angeles police officers who mistakenly thought cop-hunting fugitive Christopher Dorner might be in their vehicle, NBCLosAngeles.com reported. One was shot once and the other twice; both were expected to survive.”



“Less than a half-hour later, cops fired on another vehicle in Torrance, just two blocks away from the first scene, NBCLosAngeles.com reported. No one was injured in that vehicle, which was similar to Dorner's truck, police said.”

Clearly police are somewhat tense because they are looking for a former LAPD officer who has gone nuts and started killing people in revenge for being fired. It’s like the old stereotype of a disgruntled postal worker coming back to work to shoot his coworkers after he was fired. You’re angry about getting fired so now you’re shooting people. How is that supposed to get your job back?

In this case the former officer claims he was unjustly fired and wants to clear his name. If he was unjustly fired then that injustice can be addressed through the courts or public activism. Killing innocent people will not clear his name. It will just destroy his name even if he was initially fired unlawfully. Especially when he targets the family of former coworkers. There is nothing good or noble about that. It is the murder of innocent people. If a coworker did something wrong, murdering their family members is worse.

So we have two problems. An armed and dangerous nutbar on the loose and a past history of police corruption within the LAPD. Which in turn opens Pandora’s box. The Rodney king beating on video was but one example. We currently have an ombudsman of sorts in our new police watchdog organization who claims he has past history of dealing with police corruption in LA. The Mike Rupert case is another that comes to mind.

The blog reader who sent the story in has their own account of dealing with police corruption there. It’s a complicated problem that isn’t going to be properly addressed let alone resolved in one blog post. In Canada our problems seem small in comparison. Here we have police that will give someone the boots or flee the scene of a drunk driving charge. Which happened yet again recently in Durham.

Here in Canada we have a lot of police officers getting drunk driving charges. So much so it is clear that over all the police in Canada have a drinking problem. Which is why they should not have bars on site anywhere in Canada. Especially in Surrey.

RCMP officer arrested for child luring

Lindsey Bruno wanted for murder

February 2nd 16 year old Levonne Baptiste was murdered on the Samson Cree First Nation townsite south of Edmonton. Police have confirmed the incident was gang related and have issued an arrest warrant for Lindsey Bruno in connection with the shooting. Bruno is a resident of Hobbema, which is located approximately 90 Km south of Edmonton.

Previous violence prompted reserve residents to vote for an eviction bylaw giving leaders the power to ban suspected gang members from living in the community. The ban followed the death of five-year-old Ethan Yellowbird, who was hit in the head by a stray bullet while he slept in a home on the reserve in 2011. Three teens pleaded guilty to manslaughter for Ethan's death and are awaiting sentencing.

Two months after Ethan’s death, his 23-year-old aunt Chelsea Yellowbird was killed in a drive-by shooting. That case remains unsolved.

For the record, Godzilla lied. Again

This posted in this week’s Surrey Leader: For the Record:

"The public record shows, and City of Surrey staff verify, that Mayor Dianne Watts voted in favour of first and second reading for a rezoning application regarding a South Surrey casino proposal in 2010. A letter from the mayor published in the Jan. 29 edition of The Leader stated otherwise."

Godzilla wrote in and clarified her “mistake.” Gateway Casinos wrote in and confirmed the Surrey Leaders position. Grant Rice also wrote in clarifying the errors in Ms Watt’s previous claims which likely caused the Leader to print their retraction. Stop bullying at Surrey City hall. Oh no! They say she's got to go. Go Godzilla.

Old photo of David Giles

Here’s an old photo of David Giles a blog reader sent in from Kim Bolan’s new web site about the Hells Angels. They also submitted this other picture of Leatherman from the Village People and said they thought Giles looked a lot like him back in the day.

Personally, I think he looked a lot like Groucho Marx with those big bushy eyebrows. I know I made fun of Sean Wolfe and all these “gangsters” who spend all their time at Meryl Normans getting their eyebrows done. To each their own. I just find it pretty femmy and not very gangster.

Yet going to the other extreme there’s something called personal hygiene. Those bushy eyebrows are nasty. Trimming them would be totally in order. It just shows you how powerful the Hells Angels patch really is. We thought Giles looked like a clown now. Turns out he has always looked like a clown. What other organization on earth can empower such a complete idiot and turn him into something to be feared by the public? Every clown has their day I suppose.

Christy Clark get out of my facebook

These political ads are completely out of control. Now even Adrian Dix has started in response. There is nothing Adrian Dix could possibly have done in his past that could ever come close to what Gordon Campbell’s liberals have done and keep doing on a regular basis. This new tradition of political ads when there is no election is absolutely wrong.

During an election political candidates and parties run commercials promoting their cause. There are rules that govern how much they are allowed to spend on advertizing during an election. Now they are breaking those rules by advertizing when there is no election and using tax dollars to do it. Double trouble.

The cost of all of these ads need to be tabulated and subtracted from how much they are allowed to spend during an election. The political ads that are paid for with tax dollars need to stop. Taxpayers associations need to file a class action lawsuit against the offending parties. Top of the list is Stephen Harper and Christy Clark. Adrian Dix has just recently started to counter balance their attack ads.

This is fraudulent use of tax dollars. The most glaring example is how Christy Clark ran a political ad promoting herself during the previous Super Bowl. That costs a lot of money. Where did those funds come from?

Let’s face it, Gordon Campbell left office with the lowest approval rating in the country. Christy Clark in just the interim leader of that party trying to make everyone forget what a horrible job they did under Gordon Campbell’s leadership just like Kim Campbell. Only it’s not working because everyone remembers what the BC Liberals did with Gordon Campbell. Political ads paid for with tax dollars are totally offensive.

When are they going to stop collecting the HST? We already had the referendum. Yet they keep collecting the HST and keep spending the money. We need to sue the BC Liberals for still collecting that tax as well as for spending tax dollars on their bogus advertizing. Resolving the matter in the courts is the only way now because they refuse to listen to reason.

The other day I logged into facebook. I don’t use facebook much any more. There is a whole list of concerns I have with that service. Privacy is just one of them. After I logged in to my facebook I noticed the feed that shows you recent comments or activities in your friend accounts.



I looked down and see one from Christy Clark. Wait a minute says I, I know I don’t have Christy Clark on my friends list. Why is her profile page on my friend’s feed list? None of my friends posted it. It just said suggested site. Now this isn’t on the right hand coulomb with all the other advertizing, this is in the feed section.

God knows Christy Clark has a million stupid facebook ads on the right hand coulomb of facebook. Again she is using tax dollars to fund her dismal campaign while she refuses to implement the HST referendum. This was an ad in my friend’s feed section that she obviously paid more for. This has gotten completely out of hand.

Commercials during election time are tabulated and subtracted from the politician’s allowable election expenses. Commercials when there is no election need to be subtracted from what they are allowed to spend during an election as well. Political commercials paid for with tax dollars need to cease and desist. Stephen Harper and Christy Clark need to be sued in court by the Canadian tax payers to get those tax dollars back. Right now they are committing fraud.

Regional sales tax: Time for some new Mayors

Local mayors feasting on poison kool aid got together and proposed a regional sales tax to fund translink. Two subsequent editorials in the Vancouver Province respond with it’s time to fire these mayors. I totally agree.

“Every single mayor on the Mayors’ Council promoting its latest long shopping list of new fees and taxes to pay for transit in the Lower Mainland should be fired by voters in the next municipal election. The current crop, apparently, is incapable of hearing what cash-strapped taxpayers are saying: No New Taxes!”

“Forget the parochial concerns of local mayors. The greatest argument against a regional police force is the performance of Greater Vancouver’s two existing regional agencies - TransLink and Metro Vancouver.”

“While TransLink’s habitual tax increases, never-ending budget deficits and lack of direct accountability have been well documented over the past several years, Metro Vancouver has slid somewhat under the radar. That needs to change.”

We all know who is supporting this poison kool aid feeding frenzy. Diane Watts earlier said that having a toll on the Port Mann bridge is not fair so we should toll everything. That was the most insane statement I have ever heard come out of any politician’s mouth.

Translink sucks. They keep charging more and going further into debt. So what’s their answer? Keep spending more money they don’t have by building more sky train lines and keep going further in debt. That is bad business. Yes big cities have good subway systems. Yet any business that operates on the honor system will not last long in the real world and that is exactly what we are seeing.

They’re just starting to put in turnstiles finally. That is long over due and needs to be implemented across the board. Free rides is bad business. So is subsidizing those free rides with tax dollars.

Not long ago a report was published saying that bus drivers have a button they push every time someone gets on without paying the fare. It was pushed 2.5 million times in one year. Once again that is bad business. Giving away free services then wondering why it’s in debt. Fares are expensive. Fare evasion needs to be addressed.

They already have a regional gas tax. Look at the difference in the price of gas between Surrey and Abbotsford. That is criminal. It’s an additional billion dollars every year. Now they want more. I’m telling you, this Dianne Watts cult is poisonous and is tied directly to the days of Gordon Campbell. We need to wake up and smell the coffee by firing these arrogant mayors that want to tax and spend forever. Go Godzilla.

BC crack in Saskatoon

Wednesday morning a 16 year old kid from BC was caught arriving at the Saskatoon Bus depot with 1000 pre packaged pieces of crack cocaine. Investigators believe he is part of a large organized crime group. Using young offenders. That’s what the gangs did back in the /80’s during the US crack epidemic.

I’ll give you three guesses as to what part of BC he’s from. If you guessed Surrey, you’re right. Let's give it up for Slurrey. 16 year olds dealing candy colored crack. That is messed up. When the Hells Angels bring all that cocaine into the country, this is where it ends up. That is no way to make a living.

Bullies First in Surrey City Hall

The rumors have been confirmed about the City of Surrey sending a legal cease and desist threat to our Friend at Surrey Shirts. They claimed that their shirt Surrey: The Future dies here was an infringement on their copyright not. Their cease and desist threat from a lawyer is just another documented case of their bullying.

I was cautious about the shirt with the City logo saying Better safe than Surrey. Yet this other article is quite right in that “Copyrighted material is, of course, protected by law. But so too in Canada are parody and satire of copyrighted material.” Evidently City Hall’s lawyer is back tracking and said they aren’t going to pursue the matter in court they just send a legal letter.

So why send the letter? To be bullies and try and scare the sole proprietor knowing they don’t have a real case in court. I find it highly ironic and highly offensive Surrey First is promoting the No Bullies day when they themselves are the biggest bullies in the city. So get your red hot satirical shirts from Surrey shirts dot com.

The Globe and Mail finally picked up on the City of Surrey’s development corporation story: “Michael Geller, a well-known development consultant in Vancouver, was on the Surrey corporation’s board. He quit because he got uncomfortable about some of the deals the corporation was considering…”

“But he doesn’t support cities developing their land with the explicit goal of making money, as Mr. Cox has said Surrey’s corporation has. “That’s where we part ways. There’s not only the appearance of a conflict of interest. There are going to be conflicts.””

No kidding. This isn’t about risky investments. It’s about conflict of interest. Their sole purpose is to make money and they are the ones making decisions on flipping agricultural land into commercial. Like the Gateway Casino proposal and just like Campbell Heights Industrial Park.

Toronto Hells Angel charged in gambling ring

The Toronto Star is reporting that Toronto Hells Angel Billy Miller and five alleged associates face a string of gambling charges after police busted an invitation only Super Bowl party at a Markham banquet hall.

Police claim Billy Miller and his associates are all connected to Platinum SB, an offshore betting site in Costa Rica with an active client base in the GTA. Supt. Paul Pederson of York Regional Police said funds from illegal gambling are funneled into criminal rackets such as drug trafficking, extortion and prostitution.

Facing charges of engaging in bookmaking, participation in a criminal organization, keeping a common gaming house and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence are William Miller, 49, Arno Thomsen, 45, and Shlomo Buchler, 40, all of Toronto; Martin Spruce, 45, of Vaughan; and David Hair, 44, and Andrew Bicelli, 48, both of London, Ont.

At the news conference Finn alleged that Antonio (Jelly) Borrelli was a Platinum SB debt collector in 2004, when he paralyzed GTA mother of three Louise Russo with a stray bullet he fired into a North York sandwich shop. It’s alleged he was firing at a mobster with $240,000 in gambling debts. That’s the hit that Hells Angel Paris Christoforou and his associate Mark Peretz was involved with along with Peter Scarcella and Antonio Borrelli. Borrell was just released on bail last December while Christoforou, Peretz and Scarcella were released earlier last year.

Police seize 60 kilos of cocaine in Abbotsford

Around 7:45 AM Saturday policed noticed a suspicious 24 year old loitering in a Clearbrook Road parking lot with two locked duffle bags. After providing answers to the police that did not make sense, the police searched the duffle bags and found 60 kilos of cocaine inside.

That is a huge haul. The largest cocaine seizure to date in Abbotsford. It’s amazing what all the round the clock police protection for the Bacon brothers and their associates buys. The unnamed suspect is from out of province. I’m not sure why they’re not naming the suspect or saying what province he’s from. Looks like we still have a ways to go yet in police transparency.

Dec. 6, 2010 an Abbotsford man named Curtis McLay was caught outside a restaurant in Bellingham with 184 kilos of cocaine he planned on smuggling into Canada. He was sentenced to 10 years in a U.S. prison last May.

Andrew Meisner

Speaking of suicides, I’m sad to report that the rumors have been confirmed about Geoff Meisner’s brother Andrew being found dead in Nelson. The police say foul play has been ruled out although it is unclear how he died. Which again makes you wonder how they can rule out foul play if they don’t have a cause of death.

One rumor going around was that he slipped and hit his head on some ice a week before he died which may have resulted in internal bleeding. The tragic part is that he was found in a drug lab. Which makes his death even more suspicious. Regardless of the actual cause of death, suicide, accident or murder, here’s another life lost and another period of mourning for a family that has already lost so much.

It is strange how Geoff got involved with the Hells Angels and the kingpin crew and how his brother Andrew got involved in a drug lab when their father was a retired police officer. Who worked on the Pickton file nonetheless. It’s like that other tragic case of two prominent RCMP officers in Kelowna whose daughter Lisa has been charged with drug trafficking. She was arrested in Richmond but was arrested with another Kelowna woman. Kinds of a conflict of interest for the parents.

Any kid from the best family in the world can get addicted to drugs or start selling drugs to make some cash on the side. The huge amount of money involved is a very real temptation for anyone.

Andrew’s death makes me wonder about Chad Karylchuk‏’s death. He was involved in the drug trade and died of an overdose. Locals seem to think it was a forced over dose. Yet these deaths never get investigated because foul play has been already ruled out.

The heartache of suicide

I’m going to pause from posting for a moment of silence in remembrance of Kevin Fry. I’m going to take a standing eight count to grieve and reflect. My kids went to school with Kevin. I attended his funeral today with my son. The minister talked about how hard any death is. It’s hard when grandparents move on after having lived a full life. We miss them. It’s even harder when a child dies before their parent. That is so true.

The minister went on to say it’s even harder still when there are unanswered questions. Indeed not knowing the cause of death inhibits the grieving process. Today the minister confirmed that Kevin’s death was suicide. We were all shocked. Kevin was such a good person. He was so happy and friendly.

No disrespect to the family. My heart goes out to his mother, sister and brother. Such sorrow is very real. I had two coworkers in Surrey who each lost a child to suicide. One was a young man in high school. He was being bullied and gave up. The other was a daughter in college. A talented musician who struggled with a mental illness. She was so relieved to get a partial diagnosis. She said I’m not crazy after all. Meaning that she wasn’t imagining there was something wrong, there was indeed something physically wrong that she had to cope with. Unfortunately she committed suicide before finding a cure.

Both cases caused me to shudder. I knew and worked with both fathers. One was my partner at work for quite a while. That kind of grief, of having to burry a child caused me to shudder. Later on there was another suicide at work. This time it was a coworker. He was going through a second divorce. After working so hard for so many years to pay child support for his own biological children, his second marriage broke down and he was expected to pay child support for someone else’s kids from a previous relationship. That is when he threw in the towel, put a gun to his head and said tax that.

I was shocked. This was a coworker who I not only had worked with but was someone who had helped me through a dark time with his genuine empathy. His daughter cried at the funeral filled with coworkers who cared. She said he didn’t think he had any friends. That was tragic.

Any time someone commits suicide the first thing that comes to mind is, was there something I could have done to prevent it? All of us are busy and all of us are responsible for our own choices. Yet attending this funeral and seeing kids I hadn’t seen in a while I felt to ask, how are you doing? No really, how are you doing?

These are tough times. The cost of housing compared to wages offered is way worse now then when I first left high school and moved out. I had a good job, a cool car and a place of my own. I could afford it on the wages I made. Now it’s not so easy. Housing has skyrocketed yet wages haven’t kept up. In some industries they make less now than they did 25 years ago. That is one thing that has always terrified me. As a parent you always hope to leave this world a better place for your kids. Unfortunately, I’m not seeing it. The cost of housing is seriously affecting kids’ standard of living when they leave high school.

Yet there is hope. There are things we can do. The key is to pull together, not to try and do it all on your own. Historically, many in some Christian denominations were taught doctrine that was very black and white: heaven and hell. You either made it or you didn’t and if you committed suicide you went to hell. I do not believe that. If a parent can have compassion on a child that committed suicide, how much more so can a heavenly parent. There is no doubt in my mind that God loves Kevin and has compassion on him.

Personally, I think hell is more of a state of mind. Sometimes it can be regret. In other ways it can be brought to face some of the evil we have done and refused to acknowledge during this life. Seeing and feeling the pain we have caused other people.

My son said Kevin’s body was found two days after his best friend had his birthday. He said that on his best friend’s birthday his facebook status was all about how this was the most empty and lonely birthday he had ever experienced and how he just wished he could see Kevin. At that point even my son began to tear up and I remembered an experience from his past.

Years ago, when he was young, my son had a big buddy in elementary school. An older student from Ethiopia who was assigned to be his big buddy and befriended him. Turns out they lived in the same complex and became good friends outside of school. Then the day came for his friend to move away. After they said their goodbyes my son quietly walked up to his room and sobbed. He cared deeply about his friend and was going to miss him dearly. I was touched.

So I think about Kevin’s friend and his pain loosing his best friend in such tragic circumstances. There’s a lot of pain there to deal with. First there’s the loss. The deep emptiness not being able to see his friend again. Then there’s guilt. Wondering if there was something he didn’t do that he should have. Then there’s betrayal. Why didn’t he tell me? I was his best friend. No doubt his mother and sister have similar feelings.

There is no doubt in my mind that Kevin did not want to hurt anyone. He has, but that clearly was not his intent. How can you tell someone you love you’re going to commit suicide? You can’t. They’ll stop you. I don’t know why Kevin committed suicide.

The minister suggested that most often the person feels they are in a hopeless situation that they cannot change. Perhaps it was the economic challenge youth today face, I don’t know. I do know that other kids his age are also struggling. Giving up is understandable. Yet if we pause and take a step back to see the bigger picture we will realize there is always hope. There is always a solution to any problem. Sometimes we have to think outside the box and be creative. Whatever we do, we have to pull together. We can’t do it alone.

During the service the minister got the congregation to repeat God give Kevin Peace three times then finally God give Kevin’s family peace. Looking at the slideshow it is very clear that Kevin was a wonderful person and that is a good thing. The memories recorded warm the heart. They are good memories. Life does not end at death. Loved ones can be reunited but not yet. We have a purpose to fulfill. Things to accomplish. Joy yet to experience.

When I look at Kevin’s smile. It warms my heart. He was a good person. Here’s a song one of his friends wrote for him. God give Kevin Peace. He is loved and missed dearly.

Two more shootings in Surrey

Two more shootings in Surrey this morning. This is after the headline in this weeks Surrey Leader reads: Are we in the midst of a gang war? Four shootings in past month in Surrey were gang related. Surrey's fifth murder in a month. Look what that casino money supports.

A volatile start to the New Year indeed. During the 2009 Vancouver Gang war, there were six shootings in January only two of which were in Surrey. Clearly the Hells Angels don’t need a clubhouse in Surrey to execute rival drug dealers. They sure seem to be spending an awful lot of money on executions trying to make Surrey safe for Larry Amero and his merry band of village idiots. Clearly that guy is a liability not an asset. Glen Hehn is scary. Larry Amero is not.

New Publisher for the Vancouver Sun and Province

Gordon Fisher replaces Kevin Bent as the new president and publisher of the Pacific News Group which puts out the Vancouver Sun and the Vancouver Province. Gordon Fisher appears to be a good guy and there was nothing wrong with Kevin Bent. It appears to be another move to help increase profitability of the newspaper industry in a digital age.

The freedom of the press can be a powerful tool in the democratic process. It can also be a powerful tool in the propaganda conflict where the truth is always the first casualty. Most of us, at least I always used to, think of newspapers and non biased reporting of current events. Far from it.

In England the biases are far more prevalent. Take Robert Murdoch champion of the wiretap scandal. The newspapers Murdoch produced were always biased towards supporting Conservative candidates in the election. Tony Blair was the one exception after he supported George Bush’s lie that formed the reason for the invasion of Iraq.

After that, Murdoch and his papers supported David Cameron. Now when I say support that doesn’t just mean he voted for and contributed to his campaign. I mean the paper ran biased articles in favor of those candidates. Which is in complete contradiction to what I personally thought newspapers were supposed to do. I thought they were supposed to be non biased. Now there are just supposed to make money.

We did see something similar in Canada when the media tyrant Conrad Black started buying up all the newspapers and media outlets. His newspapers became very right wing and very biased in the way it reported the news.

As shocking as this may seem for those as naïve as myself, it isn’t really a problem in our supply and demand world. If a paper is clearly right wing or left wing biased, it will generate that kind of readers and those kinds of advertizing dollars. No doubt the big corporations are going to have more money to spend on advertizing and are therefore in a better position to manipulate the media.

The thing we need to do as consumers is remember that those biases do in fact exist and seek out alternative or nonbiased media sources. Supply and demand. I will note that although Conrad Black created the National Post which was very right wing at the time, it never made a profit and lost millions under Conrad’s leadership.

Conrad Black sold the remaining 50% of his shares in the National Post in 2001 to CanWest Global Communications Corp which owned the other half of the paper. Gordon Fisher took over and the reporting became less biased. As a result, on October 28, 2011, The National Post announced its first ever yearly profit. Since it started in 1998, until it was sold in 2001, the National Post had lost millions. So Gordon Fisher comes back out West to turn the tide once again and help save the newspaper industry in our digital age.

Television is free. That industry makes money on advertizing. Likewise on the Internet, sites that get high traffic volume can also make money on advertizing. The question is, does the media answer to consumers who buy and read their material or do they answer to their sponsors and try to control their readers with ads like Steven Harper and Christy Clark’s painful propaganda paid for with tax dollars. Time will tell.

On the subject of modern main stream censorship I will cite the case of Dan Rather. One blog reader just reminded me and sent this link to the story. It is a flaming example of how pathetic our main stream media has become. Just like the Gary Webb case. Dan Rather and Gary Webb were both right.