None of the above

I don't have a dog in this fight. And if ever there was an election that screamed out for a None of the Above selection on the ballot, it is this Presidential election in the USA.

A few days ago I was speaking with a waitress in the hotel lounge I was staying at in Calgary and she struck up a conversation on the book I was reading - The War Within by Bob Woodward.

It seems she is a young idealistic economics student at the University of Calgary. She asked me what I thought about the US election and I stated the above. She asked what I didn't like about Barack Obama and I said that in my view he hasn't said much about what he would do save and except for mouthing a bunch of empty rhetoric and the usual socialist tripe about raising the minimum wage and creating the conditions for more unionization in America.

She seemed appalled and said well, what about what George Bush and the Republicans have done to the economy? I replied that the current economic meltdown had very little to do with Bush and was almost exclusively the responsibility of former President Bill Clinton.

Well, she looked as though someone had just drowned her puppy. She then said that's not what her professors taught at university. Which, of course, caused me to pass several ounces of a perfectly potable Australian Shiraz out of my nose.

So patiently, I explained, after I had cleaned up the table in front of me, that universities in Canada and the US, with all but a very few exceptions are bastions of political correctness and socialist dogma and of course they wouldn't teach anything but what fits their socialist version of reality.

Well, with a few taps on the IPhone I unearthed several articles in places like the Wall Street Journal and Investor's Business Daily that proved my point. She then got mad, as she should have, at her profs and said they should be teaching the truth. Ah yes, got it in one my dear. But neither our institutes of higher learning nor the mainstream media can see past their dogmatic idealism.

In Toronto this morning, I watched the all-Obama news channel formerly known as CNN. They've already got this guy elected and were breathlessly talking about who might be his Chief of Staff and possible cabinet appointments. Well Obama may well be the President-elect come Wednesday morning or, as in the last two elections, the MSM may have gotten it wrong. But whatever happens, this election has clearly shown that both sides need to work harder to find better candidates.

Leo Knight

primetimecrime@gmail.com

*For those of you who are interested in the original piece written by Terry Jones for the Investor's Business Daily which is a subscription site, I have found a discussion board with the original article posted. You can read it here: http://www.curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1266142

The Lesser of Two Weasels

I have had about all the stomach-churning rhetoric and blatent nonsense I can handle in this election campaign.  

The economy in the USA, Iceland, Japan and many other parts of the world is in the toilet and circling the drain.  NDP leader Jack Layton and Liberal Stephane Dion can only scream "Why isn't the Prime Minister doing something?"  Well, what exactly isn't made clear.  

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not panicked and knee-jerked his way into doing something for the sake of appearing to be doing something.  That's what a leader does.  A leader does not panic.  

While I abhor some of the things the Harper government has done, or not done as the case may be, one cannot say he has been reckless, which seems to be what the lefty weasels are demanding.

Now, I know for certain that Dion's Green Shift is a pack of stuff and nonsense.  But clearly, if it was stuff and nonsense a month ago, with the market meltdown, it  is unadulterated stupidity now.  But, Dion continues to say a Liberal government will adopt this in its first budget.  

This is beyond reckless given the market situation, this is economic suicide.  Follow me here.  The so-called Green Shift, the term in itself was stolen without the permission of the owner of the name, is touted to be revenue neutral because carbon taxes placed upon carbon emitters would be offset by income tax reductions.  

Okay. But if the carbon tax is designed to incent the carbon emitters to emit less doesn't that also follow that that leads to paying less?  And if they are paying less and the income tax reduction is not recinded, isn't that a recipe for deficit budgets? Well, you know it is, and I know it is.  But that 's because we can actually think something through.  And, of course, this simple concept doesn't deal with the inflationary result because increasing costs on business means business has to reflect that cost on their price to the end user.  Simple economics.

But, apparently not simple enough for the critical thinkers who pull the strings on the most corrupt political party this country has ever had endure. And, if you doubt the accuracy of that statement please purchase Paul Palango's new book: "Dispersing the Fog" and get back to me after you've digested it.

But simple economics seems to elude the other weasel as well, Jack Layton. I may climb a clock tower with a rifle if I hear the phrase "working family" or "corporate welfare" again. Is Layton so devoid of ideas that he must resort to the 1974 election campaign speeches of David Lewis who coined the phrase "corporate welfare bums?"  Layton's stated policy of eliminating the so-called "$50 billion" in corporate tax cuts enacted by the Stephen Harper minority government may be ideologically sound with the ideological unsound on the political left, but it doesn't make any sense in the real world.  I don't care how you paint it, if government raises the cost to business of anything, then business must, by definition, pass that cost onto its customers which of course, means the buying public.  And that is true whether we are talking about oil companines, or financial institutions or the Ma and Pop corner grocery store.  

Why would any political leader with any concept of reality want to add to the financial burden of the average Canadian family at this point in time with the American economy in free-fall and our economic times so uncertain?  Notice I didn't use the term "working family" and instead used "average Canadian."  The NDP seems to think the only people who "work" are single moms and union members.  Weasel the Lesser should try and see how hard people like you and I work to pay our taxes, our bills and try and keep a few shekels out of the hands of the government thieves for a rainy day.

The concept of a Dion government or a coalition Dion/Layton government is frightening at best and downright disastrous at worst.  Whatever one may think of Stephen Harper, he is, at least, a true leader and a careful steward of the country. The choice on October 14 is either Stephen Harper or the lesser of two weasels.

Leo Knight

primetimecrime@gmail.com

Tilting at windmills with effect

I have just finished reading an advance copy of Paul Palango's new book: entitled Dispersing the Fog: Inside the Secret World of Ottawa and the RCMP. 

Palango, who is no stranger to anyone interested in the RCMP and the problems that have befallen this national icon, walks the reader through a series of cases that have dominated the news headlines. From the Mahar Arar debacle through Project Sidewinder and up to the murder of the Mayerthorpe Four, Palango looks carefully at the reasons the RCMP keeps taking it on the chin.

But it is so much more than a look inside the travails of Canada's national police force.  It is really an examination behind the scenes and the politicization of the RCMP to suit the needs of the real power behind the throne in Canada and he lays bare the systemic corruption that has everything to do with power and money for a small group and little or nothing to do with what is right for the country. 

Palango methodically strips away the layers of obfuscation and lays bare the fabric of lies that ultimately ensures the RCMP can never be what Canada really needs of our national police force.

I have long described the RCMP as 133 years of tradition unhampered by progress and Palango nails it as he takes the reader on a roller coaster ride through some of the biggest headlines of the last decade. 

The book, published by Key Porter Books, will be in bookstores in early November.  If you care about Canada, read this book.  Palango takes the reader inside the corridors of power and shines a light on the cockroaches that inhabit them.

The RCMP have already begun discreet inquiries to try and determine who may have given Palango information used in this book.  And that, in and of itself, illustrates what is wrong with the Force.  They are a fundamentally flawed, dysfunctional organization.  Instead of trying to fix their myriad of issues outlined by Palango, they initiated a witch-hunt to find out who let the cat out of the bag. 

Palango has done a significant service to the country with his work on this book.  He should receive the Order of Canada for his efforts.  Instead, I fear he will be attacked mercilessly for his efforts by those who believe they are entitled to their entitlements.

Wait for it, unfortunately.

Leo Knight

primetimecrime@gmail.com

An affront to the brave

Being Canadian means having to accept stupidity disguised as political correctness.

I have spent much of this week on planes moving between Alberta and BC and back and forth. I was making my way at Calgary Airport to the baggage carrousal the other day and I watched a number of soldiers in battle fatigues clearing security on their way to the front lines of the war on terror being waged by extreme Islamist thugs against western democracies.

In the same week as an addle-brained spokesman for the Taliban claimed they were targetting Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan deliberately in order to have an effect on the current federal election campaign, I watched as our soldiers were being subjected to physical searches by CATSA security guards with names like Ali and Mahmoud. The female baggage screener wore a Muslim head scarf.

There was something wholly incongruous and hypocritical about what I saw.

I harbour no illusions about the efficacy of airport security in Canada. There is no doubt is it little more than an expensive pantomine to create the illusion of security for the travelling public in the post-9/11 world. But, really, couldn't we really add some actual effect to the illusion?

And I have to admit that it just pissed me off to watch a Canadian soldier who has been security cleared to a level the CATSA guard could never aspire to, being searched, in combat uniform, before getting on a plane to defend this country from the religious zealots who threaten the world and are connected by faith to the very guards supposedly protecting our flying public.

Never mind Sharia and the male dominance over the female of the species, how is it possible that political correctness can trump security in this day and age?

It's an an absolute mystery and an affront to those soldiers in combat uniform heading to a war zone who had to submit to the searches.

I was ashamed to be Canadian as I watched the scene. Unfortunately, it was not the first time.

Leo Knight
primetimecrime@gmail.com






- Leo Knight on Blackberry

Spin bears no relation to the truth

Well, election madness is upon us, whether we wanted it or not.  And one of the things we know inherently is that we are about to be subjected to spin on an unprecedented scale.

I received this email yesterday that I thought worth sharing with you.  I thought it particularly poignant.

Hi Leo,

I just watched a local news station do a story on the dirty politics between Stephane Dion and the conservative government.  They actually said that Dion wanted to "increase" the restrictions on several kinds of firearms, "including the type that was used in the Montreal Dawson College shooting."  Then the story ends and they go on with the next really quickly to a service for those who recently lost their lives in the CF.

What many people don't already know is that at the time that massacre occurred, those Beretta Storm's were restricted firearms.  Now they are already prohibited, at least according to my local gun store.  As are all bullpup arms.  So how can they increase any further restrictions on a prohibited firearm?

This upsets me because they don't bother to explain to the public the difference between non-restricted, restricted, and prohibited.  They just use an angle that serves their purpose -- at the shameful expense of those victims.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could do a blog entry on firearms and this liberal spin thats been going through the news and schools.  Criminals don't get guns by going through the RCMP, they illegally import them, or steal them from registered lawful owners because of the registry itself.  Granted, handguns have been registered for decades, but this longarm registry needs to go -- and besides, you can't hide a 44" to 48" rifle in your pants.  There are big lists by the NRA using real statistics to show that its better for us to be a lawfully armed society.  They show that as criminals are more comfortable with the idea that you are not armed, crime increases.  And saying that guns kill people is like saying spoons made Oprah fat.  If there weren't guns and people were so dead-set on killing, there would be knives, and thats already a problem.  But a person who thinks of pulling a knife on a lawful citizen who might have a carry licence would think several times before doing something stupid.  You can sort in a list the States in an increasing order of gun control, and they are nearly the same states with the same order of increasing crime.  That should speak volumes, but the majority of people in Canada don't recognize that each state have set their own laws, and the states where people are allowed to carry, there is virtually zero crime.

I do agree that in Canada there should remain laws about concealed weapons.  We should be a shall-carry instead of a may-carry society, and wear it proudly on our hip as a symbol of lawfulness.  But for whatever reason they think we'll have shootouts and high noon duelings, even though dueling (with guns or swords) has been illegal for a very long time.  That is, mutually agreeing to a fight without fists.  Mutual agreement of any public display of violence should be against the law, and it is in regards to disturbing the peace.  But we get youtube's of schoolyard fights and the person who never wanted to fight at all has to save face and pretend it was ok on camera.

The "40 reasons for gun control" posted around the magazines, people don't see that it was written as a criticism for gun control.  You have probably seen it around but if you haven't I'll attach it below for your own humour.

Thank you very much for reading,
I enjoy reading you,
Jay Demmery

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Reasons For Gun Control 
Significant portions of this article are excerpted from Michael Z. Williamson's excellent and witty piece, "It's amazing what one has to believe to believe in gun control" 
1. Banning guns works, which is why New York, DC, & Chicago cops need guns.

2. Washington DC's low murder rate of 69 per 100,000 is due to strict gun control, and Indianapolis' high murder rate of 9 per 100,000 is due to the lack of gun control.

3. Statistics showing high murder rates justify gun control but statistics showing increasing murder rates after gun control are "just statistics."

4. The Brady Bill and the Assault Weapons Ban, both of which went into effect in 1994 are responsible for the decrease in violent crime rates, which have been declining since 1991.

5. We must get rid of guns because a deranged lunatic may go on a shooting spree at any time and anyone who would own a gun out of fear of such a lunatic is paranoid.

6. The more helpless you are the safer you are from criminals.

7. An intruder will be incapacitated by tear gas or oven spray, but if shot with a .357 Magnum will get angry and kill you.

8. A woman raped and strangled is morally superior to a woman with a smoking gun and a dead rapist at her feet.

9. When confronted by violent criminals, you should "put up no defense -- give them what they want, or run" (Handgun Control Inc. Chairman Pete Shields, Guns Don't Die - People Do, 1981, p.125).

10. The New England Journal of Medicine is filled with expert advice about guns; just like Guns & Ammo has some excellent treatises on heart surgery.

11. One should consult an automotive engineer for safer seatbelts, a civil engineer for a better bridge, a surgeon for internal medicine, a computer programmer for hard drive problems, and Sarah Brady for firearms expertise.

12. The 2nd Amendment, ratified in 1787, refers to the National Guard, which was created 130 years later, in 1917.

13. The National Guard, federally funded, with bases on federal land, using federally-owned weapons, vehicles, buildings and uniforms, punishing trespassers under federal law, is a "state" militia.

14. These phrases: "right of the people peaceably to assemble," "right of the people to be secure in their homes," "enumerations herein of certain rights shall not be construed to disparage others retained by the people," and "The powers not delegated herein are reserved to the states respectively, and to the people" all refer to individuals, but "the right of the people to keep and bear arm" refers to the state.

15. "The Constitution is strong and will never change." But we should ban and seize all guns thereby violating the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Amendments to that Constitution.

16. Rifles and handguns aren't necessary to national defense! Of course, the army has hundreds of thousands of them.

17. Private citizens shouldn't have handguns, because they aren't "military weapons", but private citizens shouldn't have "assault rifles", because they are military weapons.

18. In spite of waiting periods, background checks, finger printing, government forms, etc., guns today are too readily available, which is responsible for recent school shootings. In the 1940's, 1950's and1960's, anyone could buy guns at hardware stores, army surplus stores, gas stations, variety stores, Sears mail order, no waiting, no background check, no fingerprints, no government forms and there were no school shootings.

19. The NRA's attempt to run a "don't touch" campaign about kids handling guns is propaganda, but the anti-gun lobby's attempt to run a "don't touch" campaign is responsible social activity.

20. Guns are so complex that special training is necessary to use them properly, and so simple to use that they make murder easy.

21. A handgun, with up to 4 controls, is far too complex for the typical adult to learn to use, as opposed to an automobile that only has 20.

22. Women are just as intelligent and capable as men but a woman with a gun is "an accident waiting to happen" and gun makers' advertisements aimed at women are "preying on their fears."

23. Ordinary people in the presence of guns turn into slaughtering butchers but revert to normal when the weapon is removed.

24. Guns cause violence, which is why there are so many mass killings at gun shows.

25. A majority of the population supports gun control, just like a majority of the population supported owning slaves.

26. Any self-loading small arm can legitimately be considered to be a "weapon of mass destruction" or an "assault weapon."

27. Most people can't be trusted, so we should have laws against guns, which most people will abide by because they can be trusted.

28. The right of Internet pornographers to exist cannot be questioned because it is constitutionally protected by the Bill of Rights, but the use of handguns for self defense is not really protected by the Bill of Rights.

29. Free speech entitles one to own newspapers, transmitters, computers, and typewriters, but self-defense only justifies bare hands.

30. The ACLU is good because it uncompromisingly defends certain parts of the Constitution, and the NRA is bad, because it defends other parts of the Constitution.

31. Charlton Heston, a movie actor as president of the NRA is a cheap lunatic who should be ignored, but Michael Douglas, a movie actor as a representative of Handgun Control, Inc. is an ambassador for peace who is entitled to an audience at the UN arms control summit.

32. Police operate with backup within groups, which is why they need larger capacity pistol magazines than do "civilians" who must face criminals alone and therefore need less ammunition.

33. We should ban "Saturday Night Specials" and other inexpensive guns because it's not fair that poor people have access to guns too.

34. Police officers have some special Jedi-like mastery over hand guns that private citizens can never hope to obtain.

35. Private citizens don't need a gun for self-protection because the police are there to protect them even though the Supreme Court says the police are not responsible for their protection.

36. Citizens don't need to carry a gun for personal protection but police chiefs, who are desk-bound administrators who work in a building filled with cops, need a gun.

37. "Assault weapons" have no purpose other than to kill large numbers of people. The police need assault weapons. You do not.

38. When Microsoft pressures its distributors to give Microsoft preferential promotion, that's bad; but when the Federal government pressures cities to buy guns only from Smith & Wesson, that's good.

39. Trigger locks do not interfere with the ability to use a gun for defensive purposes, which is why you see police officers with one on their duty weapon.

40. Handgun Control, Inc. says they want to "keep guns out of the wrong hands." Guess what? You have the wrong hands.

A day late and a dollar short

I was sent a web link today to a recently launched website disturbingly critical of the Calgary Police Service.  I looked at the website and am very troubled not only by the content, but by the fact they have linked primetimecrime.com as though we are somehow a part of this vitriolic diatribe.  

For the record, primetimecrime.com has absolutely nothing to do with www.calgarypoliceinfo.com and I fervently decry any connection to anyone who would dare to publish such a site unsupported by evidence.  

In looking at the information published, little seems new.  Rather, it all appears to be a regurgitation of things that happened on former chief Jack Beaton's watch.  Beaton deserved to be criticized and I wasn't shy doing just that.  But he has retired and there is a new Chief Constable.  And the new Chief Constable seems, to this observer at least, to be making a lot of right moves.  

No police department is perfect and no one should expect perfection of the Calgary Police Service. But, since the departure of Jack Beaton and the installation of Rick Hanson as Chief, the CPS is in the best shape it has been in since the early 90's. 

I don't know who or what is behind the publication of the website but I can suggest that whoever it is is still fighting a battle that is long since over.  He or she just doesn't seem to realize that simple truth.

There were a great many reasons to criticize the CPS under Jack Beaton.  The current effort seems to be a day late and a dollar short.

Leo Knight

primetimecrime@gmail.com

Business as usual for the Godfather of the House

What really amazes me is that even in disgrace, former Liberal cabinet minister, Quebec party bagman and quite possibly the most corrupt politician this country has ever seen, Alfonso Gagliano, was able to extract a $500,000 loan from an obscure arm of the federal government called Farm Credit Canada to buy a vineyard, apparently.

Gagliano was the central figure in the Adscam debacle which ultimately undid two Liberal Prime Ministers, though both deny that essential and plainly obviously fact. He was also named by FBI snitch and career mobster Frank Lino, as a "made" guy and member of the Bonnano crime family.  

Is it true? I don't know. But I do know that he had much to cozy a relationship with Augustino Cuntrera when he was the accountant for some companies of the family dubbed the "Rothchilds of the Mafia."  He was also a founding member, along with Cuntrera, and on the executive of a "club" called the Siculiana / Cattolica Eraclea Society in the 90's.  I also know that Lino had no reason to lie at that point.

Gagliano came out denying it all in the media claiming Italian discrimination.  Really, it's all a plot against the Italians.  He threatened a lawsuit, but none was forthcoming.  One suspects that was because he could never allow himself to be cross-examined on the question.  Unlike our Human Rights kangaroo courts - oops sorry - tribunals, in civil court the truth is an absolute defence.

Well, the "Godfather" of Parliament no longer has his "walk and talks" out behind the Parliamentary library as he smokes his cigars.  But apparently, he is still able to reach into the bowels of government and extract his "taste" as needed.

Leo Knight

primetimecrime.gmail.com

Under-support equals under achievement

Well, now that the summer’s over it must be time to get back at it. Summer’s end also marks the end of the Beijing Olympic Games.

While I was on vacation I posted a quick hitter suggesting that Canada’s efforts in these Summer Games was less than stellar. I got accused of being everything from a fascist – although that one’s not particularly new – to being anti-Canadian.

I thought that one was a bit rich. Are we supposed to live in this over-taxed, under-achieving nation of naval gazers, this land of two founding notions and say everything is fine lest we be accused of being anti-Canadian?

What did we do at the Olympics? Sure there were some great individual achievements. I stayed up very late one evening enraptured by the race Simon Whitfield ran in the Triathalon. And the women’s diving was outstanding especially with the silver won by Emilie Heymans.

And then there was Priscilla Lopes-Schliep winning Bronze in the women’s 100 metre hurdles – outstanding. The race for the gold medal captured by the men’s eight in rowing, the heavyweight event of the Olympic regatta, was gripping.

But realistically, our federal government contributed a grand total of $8 million to our Olympic effort. It’s going to double for the next games. Big whoop. Australia, a country of similar size and GDP spends over ten times that. Oh, and they won 46 medals in this Olympics compared to our 18. In fact they won nearly as many Gold medals as we did medals.

The media was crowing about our total of 18 medals, of them, only three were gold. We are a G-8 nation people. Go take a look at how other G-8 countries like Australia or the UK did.

Face it, we are a nation of under-achievers. Caspar Milquetoast on valium. And, I should add, that is not our heritage. It is what we have allowed ourselves to become. We are a product of a system where our children are taught by the trendy-lefties dominant in the school system that it’s good enough just to show up, that we are all equal, that everyone who participates gets a ribbon or a medal or a trophy. Of course that is absolute nonsense.

But nonetheless, that is what we are allowing the socialist suckholes teaching our kids to do. While it may protect the feelings of some fat kid who can’t see past his next Twinkie, it does nothing to prepare the next generation for what awaits them in life, let alone instill in them the competitive fire in the belly necessary to be the best in the world.

If we want to be the best in the world, or at least be competitive with the best in the world, we must remove the barriers for our athletes. We cannot keep them living like paupers as they bow and scrape to some butthead bureaucrat to get a few crumbs from what should be a heavily laden table.

Some of the members of the Canadian Olympic team did absolutely outstanding things in these Games and for that they are to be cheered and their achievements celebrated. But they were able to achieve because they are outstanding people who understand what it takes to be among the best in the world and that it simply isn’t good enough just to show up. Their stories are the lessons our children should be taught. I don’t think that is anti-Canadian. Wanting our country to achieve more is pro-Canada and accepting mediocrity is not.

This isn't about our athletes underperforming, it is about the country underperforming in support our athletes are not given.

Leo Knight
primetimecrime@gmail.com

Truly Canadian....

I'm on holidays on the East Coast, golfing during the day and basking in the liquid sunshine that seems to define this Maritime summer.

In the evening I must confess to succumbing to my masochistic side by watching Canada at the Olympics in the Totalitarian People"s Republic of China.

At this point it seems that American swimmer Michael Phelps will get more gold medals than our whole Olympic team.

We are a nation that accepts mediocrity. Our broadcast on the the Canadian Broadcorsting Castration is sponsored by the Chicken Farmers of Canada.

I'm trying to get my head around what could possibly be more embarassing. It's not coming....

Leo Knight
Primetimecrime@gmail.com
- Leo Knight on Blackberry

True to form, released murderer reoffends

There is no doubt that the justice system in Canada is fundamentally flawed.  But every now and again, a case that perfectly illustrates the fact comes to light.

And so it is with a story out of Winnipeg about the exploits of an utter waste of skin named Martin Junior Hayden who for 32 years has been a boil on the butt of  society.

In July 2000 Hayden and two other equally talented knobs attacked 33-year-old George Terrence Monias.  They invaded his home, beat him with fire extinguishers and one of the idiots, Valentino Ben Harper, dropped a fifty-pound  (20 kg) television on Monias’ head as he lay supine.

Needless to say, Monias died as a result of the attack.  In the first demonstration of a justice system gone wrong, Hayden was allowed to plead guilty to manslaughter.  He was given a mere eight years in prison. That was the second demonstration of how badly the system is broken.

The killing of Monias was planned and deliberate and those involved should have been charged and convicted of first degree murder.  The sentence then would have been life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

But no, this is Canada and we must give every opportunity to thugs. 

So, after serving two-thirds of his sentence, Hayden was released.  And, being the thug that he is, it only took a matter of a few days before he very nearly killed someone else and evidently, for no apparent reason. 

At three o’clock in the morning Hayden confronted a 34-year-old man walking down a Winnipeg street with a woman.  Hayden and his fellow traveler that night, Michael James Butson, a 31-year-old waste of good oxygen, began assaulting the man and when the woman tried to intervene to stop the attack, she was beaten too.

The male victim was rushed to hospital and luckily for all involved, they saved his life.  Unluckily for Hayden and Butson, they were promptly tracked down and arrested by Winnipeg police.  They spent the weekend at Winnipeg Remand.

Unfortunately they won’t be there for long I’d wager.  Despite everything, there is little doubt they will get bail pending their trial.  You see, in this demented Dominion it is very hard to go to jail.  And even when you do go there, Corrections Canada does their level best to ensure you get out as quick as possible.

Leo Knight

primetimecrime@gmail.com

 

Judicial hypocrisy continues to offend

O, hypocrisy, thy name is Justice. Or at least it should be.

In the same week, and very nearly on the same day, three different arms of what passes for justice in this disturbed Dominion made decisions which are as hypocritical as they are mired in either political correctness run amok or systemic corruption. You pick.

The first and perhaps most offensive is the decision of the BC Supreme Court issued yesterday saying that Crown prosecutors are protected from testifying about their decision to allow bail to an actual killer and that they weren’t protected in testifying about why they decided not to lay charges in the case of an aboriginal man, Frank Paul, who died of exposure after being released from the Vancouver Police drunk tank.

Unbelievable. What kind of leaps in mental gymnastics must Mr. Justice Thomas Melnick have made to arrive at this conclusion? To paraphrase a rather unfortunate MP who chose a curious way of pointing out a hypocritical cabinet minister, the judge can’t suck and blow at the same time.

This is a simple question: Are members the Crown Prosecutor’s office compellable as witnesses to explain their decisions or are they not?

Mr. Justice Melnick seems to have decided that if the potential accused is a police officer, or as in this case, two, they are compellable. But if the individual is a wife beating lunatic who is released on bail when any sane system would have opposed bail, who then goes on to kill his whole family, well, then they aren’t compellable. Presumably because they might have to actually explain why the justice system in this country is an absolute failure.

Or has political correctness reared its ugly head? Frank Paul was an aboriginal man and the family slaughter was committed by a man who was ethnically Chinese. Or is Mr. Justice Melnick simply prejudiced against the police? Either is a possibility for I cannot see any legal justification for making Crown compellable in one case but not another.

And then there is Mr. Justice Max Teitelbaum, a retired judge of the Federal Court who is still working. He has found a way to ignore the incredibly obvious. 

He actually struck down a finding by Mr. justice John Gomery following his well-publicized inquiry into the Liberal Party of Canada diverting advertising funds into the hands of their friends in business and laundering a portion of those funds back into their own coffers by way of donations. 

You can spell corruption any way you want, but the rotting fish still stinks from the head first. Gomery merely stated the obvious. Adscam was only a piece of it. What about the Billion Dollar Boondoggle. (Actually nearly four billion but why quibble over a name?) Project Sidewinder and the subsequent whitewash to protect the Liberal pals in China. Someone remind me, where is Maurice Strong living now after he got caught with his hand in the Oil for Food scandal? Oh yeah, right, he found sanctuary in the People’s Republic of China. Oh and that’s long before we talk about Chretien’s chief Quebec Lieutenant, the disgraced former Minister of Public Works Alfonso Gagliano. 

Welcome to the political toilet that masquerades as a proper Western democracy.

And just for laughs there is the story about the two lesbians who appeared drunk and were definitely obnoxious who showed up at the appearance of comedian Guy Earle. They disrupted his performance in a drunken, obnoxious manner and so, being a stand-up comedian, Earle engaged them head on.

What did he get for his trouble? The hate-seeking misses went directly to the BC Human Right folks to say they were offended. Well, boo-hoo! You can’t start something then be offended. Or more accurately, you can’t start a battle of wits when you are unarmed then whine because you were beaten.

And the BC Human Rights hand-wringers are actually taking the complaint which is going to cost Earle big bucks to defend himself and what about the obnoxious lesbians? Not a farthing. Nope, the good taxpayer of BC will fork over all of the cost for their right to be obnoxious and disturb everyone around them and not be held to account.

That offends me. 

Leo Knight
primetimecrime@gmail.com

It's the little things that matter most

For those folks who have wondered where I have been in the past couple of weeks, I took a break and went down to the desert in Arizona to do a little golfing. Well, more accurately, a lot of golfing.

And one of the things that really struck me in the Phoenix area this trip was the cleanliness and the efficiency of their road system and their traffic enforcement.

The first day I arrived, I was driving from the airport on one of the freeways when I noticed a flash of light in the opposite direction. At the merge point of an entrance to the freeway was a bank of cameras looking at oncoming traffic with strategically placed strobes and cameras to capture the rear license plate of vehicles caught doing something outside the parameters of what is allowable.

Interesting, I thought. In various jurisdictions in Canada we have tried photo radar and it always required a manned vehicle to set up, program, monitor and take down the system. Yet, here was a completely unmanned system, permanently installed causing people to follow the rule of law. In Canada, it wouldn’t last a week before someone would shoot it up or otherwise render it inoperable.

A couple of days later, while walking to a restaurant in Scottsdale, I noticed a red light camera set up at the intersection of Shea Blvd and Scottsdale Road, both major arterials. But unlike the red light cameras we use in British Columbia this one was not high up, but at arm’s length.

In the Greater Vancouver area, at best, about 30% of the red light cameras are fully functional at any given time. Yet in Arizona, with its liberal gun laws and Wild West image, the devices were not only wholly undamaged, but installed at a height that almost anyone could literally reach up and touch them.

The streets were clean and devoid of litter, overgrowth and dust. In Vancouver, which is getting ready to host the 2010 Olympics, I noticed this morning while on my way to the airport, heading to the Centre of the Universe, that freeway ramps were overgrown, concrete medians had weeds growing through and everywhere on my drive from North Vancouver to Richmond was visible litter and a general unkempt appearance.

Vancouver, which clamors for the tag “World Class,” is fast becoming class-less. Abandoned vehicles abound. On most streets one can see the residue of broken car windows done to sustain the habits of junkies and meth-heads that we simply will not say belong in jail.

In Phoenix, they have Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arapoia, who treats criminals like criminals and tells them if they don’t like it in his jails, then they should behave so they won’t come back.

In Canada, where it is particularly difficult to do something egregious enough to actually get sent to jail, we do everything we can help the poor unfortunate thieves, dope dealers, murderers and rapists see the error of their ways in the vain hope they might return to society a valued and contributing member. And while that may be a worthwhile endeavor the first time or two through the system, we do it time after time after time after time after time.

Breach your bail conditions? No problem, here’s a couple more conditions. Breach Probation? That’s alright, have some more probation. Breach parole? That’s okay, we’ll work harder with you to help you become a nice contributing taxpayer.

In the 70’s and 80’s New York City was a frightening place, with upwards of three homicides a day, a cynical police force rife with corruption and organized crime acting as though they ran things and were untouchable.

Rudy Giuliani got elected Mayor in the early 90’s and espousing the “Broken Windows” concept of crime reduction, he literally cleaned up the city and made it one of the safest large cities, not only in the USA, but in the world.

Broken Windows was all about going after the bad guys for everything – jaywalk, here’s a ticket. Break into a car, you are under arrest. Breach bail conditions, go to Rikers. It was all about tough enforcement of the law and consequences for actions regardless of the seriousness of the offence.

But it was also about fixing things up so there was a standard of order, no broken windows (hence the name), no graffiti, no burned out or abandoned vehicles. Clean and safe streets was not only the goal of Giuliani, but the demand.

I saw the same results that New York achieved in Phoenix. Unfortunately, I see nothing of the kind in Canada.

Leo Knight
primetimecrime@gmail.com

Cardboard cut-ups

The new Vancouver Police initiative to use cardboard life-size cut outs (Police unveil cardboard cops) of a traffic officer in full regalia replete with a handheld radar gun along the Knight St. corridor is creative, I will say that.

One wonders how long it will be before the first ones go missing, the target of a college prank or to decorate a dope dealer's smoking room?  Or indeed, how long until the gang bangers start tossing rounds from a nine as they scoot by in their high-powered cars?

Knowing how well these tattooed half-wits shoot, I wouldn't want to live in a home behind one of the cardboard cops.

There's no question that the Knight Street corridor is the most dangerous in Vancouver for the number of motor vehicle accidents that occur along it.  And, there's also no question that more traffic enforcement initiatives need to be deployed to combat the carnage.  But cardboard cops?  This is a joke, right?

Leo Knight

primetimecrime@gmail.com

The hypocrisy of the higher moral ground

Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier’s public humiliation became complete with his resignation this week for being careless with cabinet level briefing papers that he evidently left at his former girlfriend’s home. Was that stupid? Oh, absolutely and undeniably. And he has paid forfeit with his job. And that is as it should be.

But the sanctimonious bleating by the Liberal Opposition is really wearing a little thin. No, more than a little thin.

The femme fatale in this sordid and tawdry movie, Julie Couillard, is basking in her 15 minutes of fame. It seems rather career, if not life-threatening to engage in any meaningful intimate association with this Black Dahlia. But all of that notwithstanding, the spectre of any Liberal MP barking about the risk to National Security considering the ties to the Libs of all manner of dodgy people they were happy to stand shoulder to shoulder with is not only absurd but insulting.

Where does one start?

Consider the demands that Mme. Coulliard should have been vetted by the Mounties before Bernier’s ill-advised dalliance. Uh, excuse me, but didn’t the RCMP try and stop the appointment of since-disgraced Minister of Public Works and ultimately Ambassador, Alfonso Gagliano to Executive Council because of his direct ties to members of Italian organized crime? And didn’t the powers that be in then Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s office ignore those warnings, much to their ultimate chagrin?

Gagliano always tried to dispute his connections to organized crime figures as co-incidental and the Liberal Party of Canada struck out against those who tried to tell the truth as anti-Italian and whatever racist allegation of the day that might stick.

Well whatever. Gagliano and Augustino Cuntrera (and indeed, all of the Caruana / Cuntrera familigia are from the same village in Sicily and they were successive leaders of the Siculiana – Cattolica Eraclea Society in Montreal. Any pretense of coincidence is insulting.

But the salient point is that despite the warnings from the RCMP and the initial refusal to grant him clearance for appointment to Executive Council, the RCMP acquiesced. Was the Force strong-armed by someone in the PMO? I don’t know, but I will leave you to formulate your own opinion.

Then there’s the holier-than-thou Bob Rae who may well go down in history as the worst premier in Ontario history, screaming and burbling about interference from the PMO.

Hmmmm, one of the worst scandals in this country’s history is the handling of Project Sidewinder and the political interference – dare I say cover up – by officials in senior levels of the government of Canada. And Rae, who undoubtedly needed a job to suckle from the public tit after being summarily tossed from office in a sudden and decidedly rare moment of clarity by the voting public in Ontario, was a member of SIRC, the handsomely paid civilian oversight committee of CSIS that reviewed the file and in the face of an incredible amount of circumstantial and direct evidence decided that nothing bad had occurred.

Project Sidewinder was a case of actual government corruption and influence peddling as opposed to the possible accidental leak of confidential information.

So, how does that work? How does Rae demonize the one, minimal event and exonerate the other, systemically corrupt problem? I guess one would have to climb into the confusing and convoluted mind of former NDP Premier, now Liberal MP, Bob Rae. Enlightening? Probably not. Hypocritical? Absolutely.

L’Affaire Bernier is sad and tawdry. The fact that this narcissistic MP from Quebec has embarrassed the government of Stephen Harper is sad enough. And there is no doubt that none of this would have happened had Harper been able to actually utilize the talent within his caucus. But unfortunately, this is Canada, and the Prime Minister had to find places for lesser lights in Cabinet simply because they come from certain politically necessary parts of the country.

And, at the end of the day, Bernier, no matter how he plays out in Quebec, simply isn’t that bright as evidenced by this whole affair. What is really sad is that the Prime Minister had to reach into the shallow end of the gene pool because of the tiresome politics of Quebec.

Leo Knight
primetimecrime@gmail.com

Supreme injustice

In 2003 the governing Liberal Party of Canada foisted a supreme injustice upon this country with the Youth Criminal Justice Act or YCJA.  Many police officers in Canada think YCJA stands for You Can't Jail Adolescents, so weak was the legislation.  

But count on the Supreme Court of Canada to take an already weak piece of legislation and make it weaker still.  And in the case of Regina vs D.B. 2008 25  they did not disappoint.

Back when I was a young police officer we had the Juvenile Delinquents Act as our governing authority when dealing with the teenaged scumbags - oh sorry, poor little devils who weren't breast fed and or their mommies drank and their daddies deserted them and boo hoo hoo - who seem to think that the rule of law doesn't apply to them unless and until they get caught. Then they were happy to piss and moan about how hard done by they are and how it isn't their fault.

Back then, we would complain about how the JDA was so lenient on juvies and how they couldn't give a fig because nothing would happen to them.  I remember a cop who used to mail a birthday card to 'frequent flyers' wishing them a Happy Birthday when they turned eighteen. Inside was a photo of a pair of handcuffs and a bullet.  The implication was obvious; now that you are an adult, I'm coming to get you.

 

The JDA was replaced with another weak-kneed statute called the Young Offenders Act (YOA) which was later replaced with the YCJA.  All of this nonsense is created by the hand-wringers who simply cannot or will not understand that some of these criminal thugs are incorigible and irreparable as human beings.

The Supremes said that we can't impose statutory reverse onus positions on the little darlings. It's unfair to treat these charming young folks as adults unless Crown can absolutely prove that the crimes committed, be it murder most horrible as occurred in case of Rena Virk or the teens involved in the senseless and most brutal killing of 13 year old Nina Courtepatte.  

Much has been written about the killing of Nina Courtepatte.  But what has not been said is that for several hours she was raped and tortured and for a long period of time she was badly injured and knew she was going to die. And she pleaded for her killers to finish her off. And they wouldn't. They did it slow and very painfully.  

You simply cannot view the circumstances of a file like that and not come to the conclusion that those involved are evil. And evil should never see the light of day ever again. 

But that will not be the case for the killers of Nina Courtepatte.  The adults, such as they were, will some day be eligible for parole.  The juveniles will be free in far too short a period of time. And Nina, unfortunately, will be forgotten.

And the Supreme Court of Canada  decided that the legislation that protected the people instrumental in the murder of little Nina Courtepatte are being unfairly done by politicians who haven't a clue about the real problems in this country.

If the Supreme Court of Canada had any conscience or morals, they would be ashamed of themselves for not doing the right thing.   

And if my Aunt had balls she would be my Uncle.

Leo Knight

primetimecrime@gmail.com

Failed again . . .

A week ago, a story appeared in The Province about a rather innocuous sign of the times - thefts of bags from unsuspecting visitors at Vancouver International Airport.

But, what was glossed over was the identification of an arrested suspect in the spate of thefts. Ramon Rafael Montesinos Chavoro, 36, was arrested, charged with Theft over $5000 - an indictable offence in Canada - and released on $5,000 bail. And that’s not posted bail as in real dollars. No, indeed, that means “promised” dollars. Or, in more simple terms, nothing.

But, hang on a second, Chavoro is a Mexican national. Is he in Canada legally? And even if he is, why would we allow a foreign national to come here, allegedly commit a series of crimes and allow him to be freed on minor bail conditions?

Does he have a previous criminal history in Canada? What about in his home country?

This is ridiculous at any level. Made especially moreso since we learned this week, courtesy of the federal Auditor General Shelia Fraser, that the Canadian Border Services Agency had lost track of 41,000 illegal immigrants, most of whom are failed refugee claimants. 

It seems that in this country it matters not whether you are a failed refugee claimant or a serial criminal, what passes for a justice system in Canada will let you go with little or no restrictions on your freedoms. 

I must confess I am at a loss here to try and understand whatever logic exists to pretend that such a system is somehow tolerable or that this system “works” by any definition.

Who are these 41,000 failed refugee claimants? I don’t know and the government won’t tell us. We don’t know if they are gypsy thieves, Russian strippers or al Qaeda terrorist. And the sad part is that the government hasn’t a clue either to go along with where they might be. 

But they do know who Chavoro is and what he’s all about. And yet the system still let him go instead of holding him in custody pending trial. And if, as is most likely, he is found guilty he should be deported after serving whatever sentence the court might impose. Which, of course would be nothing more than time served. But, at least the government could have packed him aboard a plane and sent him back to his homeland and in doing so, lived up to their responsibility to protect the public.

But sadly, that is not what happened in this case. Or in the thousands and thousands of others like this.

Leo Knight

Prime Time Crime.com

Immigration decision a mystery

It's difficult to try and be respectful of the Canadian justice system when you get decisions such as the one rendered by Immigration adjudicator Daphne Shaw Dyck in the case of Jose Franciso Cardoza Quinteros, an admitted killer and member of the notoriously violent Latino gang Mara Salvatrucha or more commonly known as MS 13.

But then, I have come to expect so very little of a system designed to be overseen by people with little or no training for the role they are performing. For most, it seems the only qualification is to have connections to whatever political party is in power and makes the appointments.

Now, I don't know the adjudicator with the double-barrelled family name. And, it may well be that from time to time she gets it right. But then, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

What I can and will say is that she is so wrong in this case that one has to question her competence to sit in judgement of immigration claims. When a waste of oxygen like this has already admitted to being a member of MS 13 and a participant in gangland murders, I sincerely question her ability to process information presented.

How she came to the conclusion that this lothesome individial was likely not a gang banger because, well, I have no idea. She had no evidence before her that said this goof was anything but what he said he was.

The real problem here is not that this adjudicator went off the reservation in this case, but rather that there are so many of these 'appointees' in similar positions of power to put at risk the rest of society in Canada. And there is precious little we can do about it.

It seems that Pierre Trudeau's so called "Just Society" is really anything but.

Leo Knight

primetimecrime@gmail.com

And justice for all . . . to not see

No one will ever accuse me of being a defender of the Hells Angels. In point of fact, I am on record on many occasions saying that police must be given more tools and more resources to fight not only the bikers, but all aspects of organized crime. Which, I might add, notwithstanding the abdication of responsibility by Madame Justice Anne MacKenzie in the trial of full-patch member David Francis Giles, the Hells Angels are clearly a criminal organization as has been stated by courts in BC and Ontario in previous decisions.

Having said all that, there is something decidedly wrong with what has occurred in the sentencing of three unnamed members of the biker gang for contempt of court.

I don't know what has gone on in camera in this case in which Madame Justice MacKenzie agreed to a ban on publication of the names. And that is essentially the problem. The old adage is that Justice must not only be done, but it must be seen to be done.

How can we determine if justice was in fact done in this case if we cannot know the names and the details of the offense? Justice carried out behind a curtain is not justice in a democracy. It may pass for justice in a tin-pot dictatorship like Cuba, but it is not justice in my eyes.

Madame Justice MacKenzie demonstrated a profound lack of understanding of the Hells Angels and how their business operates in her judgement in Giles case. That lack of understanding is, in my view, a disservice to the public. The contempt citations against unnamed individuals who were allegedly a part of the criminal enterprise is nothing more than a furtherance of the disservice.

Leo Knight

primetimecrime@gmail.com

China Syndrome

On March 14th, 2008, the Government of the People's Republic of China began a crackdown on Tibetan citizens protesting against occupying power that began with the invasion of their country by the People's Liberation Army in 1950 and continues to this day.

The West, for the most part, immediately condemned the latest blatant human rights abuses by a government that seeks to dominate, if not the world, then all of Asia at the least. And, under the jackbooted heel of Communist tyranny. Well, the two front-runners for the Democratic Presidential nomination in the US, B. Hussein Obama and the former First Lady and current junior Senator from New York, who, amazingly enough, single-handedly ended 35 years of the troubles in Northern Ireland - well, that's what she said - were about 12 days late before recoiling in abject horror and metaphorically crying crocodile tears.

So, after sending in the troops to crush the demonstrations and forcing the oppressed people of Tibet into hiding, they actually announced that hundreds of the protestors had "surrendered." (See China says hundreds have surrendered)

Imagine that, surrendering to a regime that kills those people at will who don't or won't grasp the teachings of the Red Book. Yeah, I'll bet they were surendering in droves.

The Government of the PRC is a disgusting regime that engages in systemic human rights violations on a daily basis, never mind the brutal abuses such as have occured in Tibet in the past fortnight or Tianammen Square in the late 80's. Crushing a student protest in the Forbidden City or deluding a complicit Western media on Tibet, it's all the same: oppressive Communist regime takes advantage of the useful idiots in the Western media. Since the days of Lenin, nothing changes.

What puzzles, is why we continue to placate, ignore and turn a blind eye? Or, how exactly were the PRC actually awarded the Summer Olympics? Who did they buy?

Leo Knight

primetimecrime@gmail.com

The truth shall set you free . . .unless you are a federal civil servant

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. – George Orwell

The story of former Foreign Services employee Joanna Gualtieri’s battle with the bureaucrats in the federal government should make every Canadian angry. Not just pissed about a waste of taxpayer’s money, but “I want a Revolution” angry.

Gaultieri bore witness and tried to report to corruption and waste and tried to do her job. Apparently, telling the truth is a big mistake in the civil service. Now the mandarins who earn their living by sucking on the public teat are trying to crush Gualteri under a ton of legal bullshit.

So Gualtieri is saying that some foreign consulates are wasting money. Hmmm . . .I’d be surprised if ALL foreign consulates aren’t wasting money. She is saying that corruption is present at some foreign missions. Again, I’d be surprised if there wasn’t an element of corruption at all foreign missions.

I’ve seen this movie time and again. This is all about covering bureaucratic ass and nothing to do with what is right. The Tories need to step in and put a stop to this poste haste. They didn’t create this mess or condone the cause of it. But by allowing it to proceed, they appear to be in agreement with the process. And that is very, very wrong.

Leo Knight
primetimecrime@gmail.com