Vancouver oil spill

CBC is reporting that Vancouver's beaches have been made no-go areas after toxic fuel leaked into the waters of English Bay on Wednesday afternoon. It appears to be fuel from a grain ship.



The political posturing around this disaster is disgusting. The Mayor of Vancouver is blaming the Federal and Provincial government and Christy airhead is blaming the coast guard. The coast guard? Really? They are in charge of oil spills now? We better tell them and equip them whith all this increased tanker traffic in such a small inlet. Why did Stephen Harper just close down a Vancouver coast Guard station in Vancouver? Fire him.

Vatican hit with two scandals

Two bizarre scandals involving the Vatican have hit the media in Europe. The Independent is reporting that a north Italian priest has been removed from office after allegations emerged that he had been surfing the internet to find gay lovers and had been involved in gay orgies.

"In these online interactions, the priest admitted to sexual relationships with other religious figures – as well as members of the Vatican’s elite Swiss Guard – using the internet to find new partners and engage in sexual encounters online. Following the involvement of Archbishop of Taranto Filippo Santoro, the individual involved was immediately removed from office, once the “reliability of the facts” had been established." The Independent also reported that four were arrested after the police busted a gay prostitution ring in the Vatican back in 2010. There were similar allegations in 2013. A former commander of the Swiss Guard made similar allegations in 2014. No offense but I did always wonder about those outfits.

Meanwhile, "Father Gratien Alabi, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, is under investigation for murder following the discovery of female bones under the flagstones of an ancient mountain chapel. The bones are anticipated to belong to Guerrina Piscaglia, 50, who disappeared from nearby Arezzo in Tuscany last year, The Times reported. The case has generated intense media interest, with some papers claiming that Father Alabi had engaged in an affair with the woman, a parishioner of his and another priest’s church, and fathered a child with her. Pretty bizarre allegations. There's something about pictures of nude nuns as well. That's pretty sacrilegious.



Locally Metro News is reporting that A former Saskatchewan hockey coach has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting young boys. Ryan Chamberlin, who is 39, pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of sexual assault and one count of child luring. Chamberlin was a hockey coach in several southwest Saskatchewan communities. He had also helped coach a volleyball team at Centennial Elementary School in Swift Current in fall of 2014.

Here's my point. Just because a hockey coach sexually molests young boys, that doesn't mean that hockey is bad, just that particular coach. Likewise within the church. Although the amount of religious hypocrisy is rampant in the church and is one of the reasons I believe in God but am not dogmatic, it doesn't mean God is bad. If someone who makes a promise to serve God breaks that promise, that's not God's fault. Mother Teresa was an amazing person who walked the walk. No amount of religious hypocrisy will ever change that.

Kamloops woman burned to death in Wiccan ritual

The Vancouver Province is reporting that a Kamloops woman was discovered on fire by emergency responders just after 2 a.m. on Tuesday. Firefighters extinguished the blaze but the 40-year-old died in hospital a few hours later. Police initially suspected suicide, but BC Coroners Service investigators believe the death was accidental. According to posts on Facebook, Carr’s death was the result of a pagan ritual gone wrong.

The National post is reporting that a Heather Carr suffered a fiery death in a supposed pagan ritual “gone horrifically wrong.” They claim she was active among Wiccan groups on social media, operating a Facebook group called Being Pagan Out of the Broom Closet. A post on that page said Carr died as a result of “severe burns suffered in a ritual gone horrifically wrong.”

CBC is reporting that Heather was trapped in a rock structure which was on fire in Riverside Park in the early morning hours of March 31.

Easter Shootings in North Delta

The Surrey Leader is reporting that there were two shootings in North Delta last night.

Furious 7

Fast and Furious 7 is out. They've shortened the tittle to Furious 7 perhaps so it won't be confused with the ATF Black Op that sold guns to the Mexican cartel and brought back tons of cocaine into the US as payment. This episode rocks. Jumping out of an airplane in cars is pretty creative. It ends with a nice tribute to Paul Walker. Life does not end at death. Ride hard, Die free. Even Vin Diesel says never threaten a man's family. See you on the other side.

Easter Snow

Well this was a pleasant surprise. We finally got some sunshine today so I went to Cypress and hiked up sky chair. I was rather shocked to see snow on the side of the road since this season has been a complete failure on the west coast and the local ski hills have been bare since January. The east coast is getting nailed with snow which usually happens when we get an el nino but our ski season this year just didn't happen.



Today there was two inches of fresh snow at the base and the higher you climbed the more fresh snow - four inches, six, then eight at the top. I know it doesn't seem like much but it was a nice surprise since the hills have been completely bare for so long. There is nothing that symbolizes a fresh start more than a fresh snowfall. It was as U2 described, a beautiful day.



I had an old friend send me an e-mail saying he was sitting in church thinking about me and asked if I went to church for Easter this year. Nope I said. I'm heading up to the mountains. That's my church now. It helps me keep things in perspective. Thanks for asking I said and reminded him he's not supposed to be on his phone at church. Today's pilgrimage was very peaceful.







Just for the record, I never said my kids were minors. I always say they are all grown up now and they most certainly don't contribute to the blog. Up until recently they had no idea I did the blog. My daughter doesn't want me doing it and my son is petrified of it. He doesn't understand it because he has absolutely no desire to have anything to do with that lifestyle at all and cannot comprehend those who do. All his friends make fun of Surrey Jacks like everyone else does. What I did say is that only a piece of sh*t threatens to harm someone's daughter and that is true. History has recorded that. It is what it is and we are what we are. Circumstances don't make the man they reveal him to himself and the world. Peace.

Reflections on Easter

Easter means different things to different people. For some it's chocolate and the Easter bunny. For others it's the resurrection of Christ. I was driving up Oak Street towards highway 99 yesterday past the Jewish area and saw a billboard that said Come home to seder this Passover.

When I was young I worked on a non religious Kibbutz in Israel near Petach Tikva outside Tel Aviv. During passover they didn't have any bread made with yeast symbolic of their historical flight from Egypt. The meal had various symbolic features. I can't remember what the eggs represented but the horse radish represented their historical hardships. Jesus was Jewish.

In Catholic Cathedrals they have various representations of the stations of the cross remembering the suffering of Christ before his crucifixion. Years ago I worked with a Muslim friend from Fiji. He made reference to Mel Gibson's movie the Passion of Christ and encouraged me to watch it. I was somewhat surprised hearing a Muslim tell me that. He said to me it's hard to understand why God would let one of his prophets suffer like that.

Some people think bad things don't happen to good people. Yet Paul taught if we don't endure trials we aren't children of God we are children of someone else. Christ said if they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household.

Many years ago an Indo Canadian asked me, if Jesus died on the Friday, why do Christians call it good Friday? It kind of caught me off guard and my fist reaction was it's kind of hard to explain. Christians believe he suffered for us but was resurrected making it possible for everyone to one day be resurrected and judged. Christians use the Easter lily to represent the resurrection since it blooms at Easter. In Ireland, republicans who support a free republic use the Easter lily as a reminder of the Easter rising and the Irish Proclamation which put their dream on paper.

They also use the Easter lily as a symbol for the Easter rising because it is green, white and orange just like the tricolor flag of the Irish Republic. Green represents Catholics, Orange represents Protestants and White represents peace between the two. A noble dream indeed.

You don't have to be Jewish to have traditions. Traditions are a good thing. In the Ukraine they make magnificent bees wax decorated eggs. Whatever your traditions are at Easter, enjoy them. There's more to life than what can be found in a crack pipe. Peace.

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:3-5

"But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me." Isaiah 49:14-16 He came in the name of love so he did - U2.

Whitehorse drug bust tied to Langley

The Langley Times is reporting that a March 16 raid that targeted several locations in the Yukon has a strong connection to Langley. Police seized guns, a small amount of cocaine and claim that the bust is directly tied to Langley and the 856 in Aldergrove.

Years ago Hells Angels associate Len Pelltier boldly declared there is no more 856 after they shot at him picking up his son from school. Then all of a sudden we hear the 856 rose again under new leadership. Local sources claim his son started his own drug trafficking organization by the same name. Now we hear police claim this Whitehorse drug bust is tied to Langley and the 856.

Local sources claim that the drug trade in Whitehorse is run by the Hells Angels just like Prince George. In 2012 there was a drug bust in Yellowknife tied to the Hells Angels. After that bust, in 2013 the Hells Angels started to use the 856 in Yellowknife instead. This is a picture of Gage McPake from Surrey who was arrested in that bust.

Comparing Bill C-51 to the Potlach Ban

The Vancouver Province ran a profound editorial comparing Harper's Bill C-51 throwing away the Charter of Rights with an old law that once banned First Nation members from holding potlaches. The editorial is by Bill Wilson who states:

"Former prime minister John A. Macdonald’s Conservative government passed a law banning the potlatch and the sun dance in 1884. This law lasted until 1951. In 1921, a potlatch was raided on Village Island and 45 of my people were arrested. Three were immediately let go, 22 were given suspended sentences and 20 men and women were sent to Oakalla prison farm in Burnaby."

First, I think this is astounding. I had no idea that there was ever a law banning the potlatch or a traditional dance and it is incomprehensible why they created it. Yes it happened a long time ago but the point is it did happen. Today, thanks to the Charter of Rights, that law would be illegal. However, this law is the perfect example of how racism is rooted in ignorance.

Anyone who knows anything about First Nation traditions knows that the potlach is an innocent positive friendly celebration like Christmas in a sense. They invite guests in, they give gifts, it is totally positive. The motive for banning such a positive event is baffling. John A. Macdonald is known as a good guy but this law certainly wasn't.

This law is reminiscent of a darker time in Canadian history where civil liberty wasn't always protected. When I moved to Surrey in grade five my best friend was Japanese. I had no idea that during the war everyone of Japanese ancestry was rounded up in concentration camps in Canada. Obviously no one was tortured in these camps but their land was taken from them and it was never given back. This insane act has be rationalized by the claim that it was to protect the Japanese Canadians when we were at war with Japan yet that rationalization is a lie. Stealing their land and not giving it back had nothing to do with protecting them from public animosity during the war.

Later on after high school I had another Japanese friend. He was the best man at my wedding and I was the best man at his. Sadly neither marriage was successful but my point is, he was a really nice guy. I spoke at his wedding and addressed some of the old concerns on both sides of the family about mixing cultures. I said Martin Luther King had a dream that the day would come when a man would be judged by the content of his character not by the colour of his skin. I declared that my Japanese friend was a man of integrity who I trusted and respected.

His family had land on Salt Spring Island that was taken from them during the war when they were rounded up into concentration camps. Years later they received a letter of apology but their land was never returned. My point in all this is that civil liberty is a colossal concern. It is very important. Bill Wilson is right, banning the Polach was absurd just like this Bill C-51 is. The only difference is that today we have the Charter of Rights making the bill illegal.

I was on an e-mail list of several non profit organizations that are very much posed to Bill C-51 for obvious reasons. In England as soon as Parliament passed a bill removing the right to a fair trial from terrorists, with one sweep of the pen they labeled everyone protesting in the Occupy movement as terrorists. Removing someones right to a fair trial for their political beliefs or for participating in a protest is illegal.

Nevertheless, some of these NPOs are all excited that Harper might agree to a few amendments to the bill. The bill is illegal. Amending it is not good enough. We need to scrap it and if it is not scrapped we need to make a legal challenge in court. That's all there is to it. Civil liberty is important. History has shown us how easily it can be lost.

More shots fired in Surrey

Well it's the first shooting in Surrey this month but it's only April 1st. Last month there was 11. News 1130 is reporting that witnesses reported shots fired between vehicles at 128th Street and 64th Avenue. RCMP say witnesses watched a male passenger firing from a silver vehicle towards a black Honda around 11:40 a.m. A black Honda? Doesn't sound like a high level drug dealer to me. I'll admit even though a Hells Angels associate was suspected in the murder of Skeeter's brother in Surrey all these crazy ass random shootings that have followed don't sound like the Hells Angels. They usually hire a hit and get the job done. This random chaos doesn't sound like them.

One source claims that the Hells Angels only run the crack shacks around Gus' shop on the Surrey side of the Pattullo bridge and outside the Front Room. They claim everything else is run by the brown guys. Yet we know that Randy Naicker and Rob Sidhu were Hells Angels associates. Drugs in clubs is none of my business. Neither are dial a dope rings. Supply and demand means if someone is looking for drugs they will find it. My beef is the pos that give crack to the homeless for free then beat the life out of them for payment. That is exploitation. The Hells Angels ran the Surrey House of Horrors just like they ran Piggy's Palace. Everyone local knew that.