Breivik Report Released - July 22 Commission is brutal in its treatment of Norwegian Security Apparatus

The Norwegian Prime Minister released the Report of the  22 July Commission today - in Norwegian of course.  Within minutes electronic editions of newspapers worldwide were displaying the same wire story written by  Bjoern H. Amland of the Associated Press, whom we must assume reads Norwegian and read the entire 500 page report. Among Canadian newspapers which ran the story, the TORONTO SUN headline was very typical - "Norway massacre could have been prevented, says commission".  The New York Times was,  as usual, very careful. The full report hasn't been published yet in English translation, so the paper chose to avoid claiming what the English version will contain. Instead the NYT ran a report on the Commission's press conference, but with the same basic headline as everyone else  "Norway Panel on Massacre Funds Litany of Government Failures".  What is available, for those who bother to look,  is a 26 page summary of the Commissions findings, translated to English.  You can download it here - SUMMARY.
The primary conclusions of the Commission: "The attack on the Government Complex on 22 July could have been prevented through effective implementation of already adopted security measures." More important, and this is something the Americans fail to understand - "The Commission realizes, among other things, that the democratic costs related to systems intended to eliminate every risk of terrorist attacks are too high. We have to live with a certain level of risk."

Only our local rag, the Vancouver SUN, chose to monkey with the AP story and attach a ludicrous headline -  "Norwegian commission criticizes police response to far-right fanatic's bomb and gun massacre".

As usual THE SUN simply cannot pass on any opportunity to turn up the volume on examples of "far-right"or  "extreme right" political violence, even if their sloppy headline hijacks another journalists story. If the SUN had even bothered to read the Summary of the 22  July Commissions Report (as NYT staff must have) they would have realized that the commission panel in Oslo  did not trouble itself with the motives of Anders Behring Breivik.  Page 9 - "We have foregone issues related to the perpetrators motive, childhood and state of health, and we have not explored the measures society puts in place for the early prevention of radicalisation."  (Thankfully the panel also disdained reference to the meaningless "Left-Right political spectrum" - something which Canadian journalism is incapable of doing.)   Fanatical Mr. Breivik certainly is, but his modus was not that of some beer swilling, racist skinhead of the "Far Right".  He did not target immigrants, but rather the ruling party of his country who initiated and administered Norway's immigration program. That is why his crimes are so remarkable and worthy of analysis.  Breivik chose to attack the apparatus of Norwegian State Power at its vulnerable core - the private island camp where Party Youth frolic and plan for future electoral victories.  Breivik's was the most significant terrorist attack in the Western democracies since 9/11 in New York because it spread terror among the ruling elite, as much as it did the general population. For that reason it will likely be the template for militant attacks in Western Europe all through this century.

I happen to live in the murder capital of Canada - In Vancouver we hold the record for every category of murder for which records are kept, with the exception of murders within the health care system. The gruesome list begins with terrorist murders - the AIR INDIA Flight 182 Bombing,  the serial killing of women, the serial killing of children, the serial murder of drug dealers, and on down to lesser known sprees, like the demon barber case (killing of native women by forced drinking of alcohol).  All murder involves hate of one form or another, and yet the SUN is extremely selective when it pins "hate crime" labels on its political targets.  The worst example are of course the Sikh butchers who blew an Air India Boeing jumbo jet out of the sky.  Racist the Sikh murderers certainly were.  Political they certainly were.  Fanatical they certainly were.  Untouchable they certainly were ... and still are, because they got away with it.    Were the Vancouver Sikh terrorists  "Far Right"  or "Far Left"?   Or is their hatred more racial than political?  Perhaps their hatred is religious inspired and their politics cynical?  Where should we turn for the answers?  In a multicultural Vancouver such discussions do not take place because they are taboo. Who constantly reminds us of what is taboo? The media.

Political Theatre - ridiculous posing with firearm's is common within the para-military subculture, but Breivik took it up a notch by wearing fanciful insignia like this "Marxist Hunter" shoulder flash.

Vancouver's lethal cocaine market and covering some media buttcrack

One of the B.C. citizens who were gunned down in Mexico in 2009. Note his blood soaked Hockey Hall of Fame shirt. What the pampered people of Metro Vancouver refuse to accept is that their selfish consumption of "recreational drugs" is causing the slaughter of tens of thousands of people in Latin America, many thousands of them women and children. Every "Justin" and "Traci" living here in "The Greatest Place on Earth" who persists in dialling-for-dope from people like Jinagh Navas-Rivas, is complicit in the murders of people at the source of supply. The news media frequently report that an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 people have been butchered in Mexico alone, in the wars between drug distribution networks. The narco-business is so pervasive that law enforcement and civil governments of several Mexican states have fallen under the control of the largest drug gangs.

A few hours after I asked the question "Is the RCMP being coy?" I got my answer when a spokesman for the RCMP in B.C. explained why they used a grainy snapshot of Jinagh Navas-Rivas, instead of the HQ photographs available from news media or from Mayor Robertson's VISION Campaign. The RCMP Sergeant acknowledged that the connection between Mayor Gregor Robertson and his foster son was "in the public domain" but neither RCMP or Vancouver PD were going to comment on it. Hence the reversion to the crappy photo. Good news for the bad guy, who remains at large. The story has already (as of noon today) dropped from the Vancouver Sun main page.

If you have the stamina, you can watch the full briefing by the RCMP Sergeant on the CBC Website HERE It's over ten minutes in length. He refers to the cocaine-Meth-steroid selling gang in Richmond, B.C. as a "dial-a-dope" ring, and he pronounced the suspect name Jinagh as "Jinash". Jinagh Farrouch Navis-Rivas is a curious hybrid name, typical of multicultural Vancouver region. Perhaps one birth parent is North African and the other Latino? The SUN tells us they reside in our area.

What I found more interesting was the Vancouver SUN covering it's buttcrack with a staff editorial. The SUN, which receives an enormous amount of $$$ advertising revenue from Vancouver City Hall, has published an editorial congratulating Mayor Robertson for fostering Jinagh Navas-Rivas "Opinion - Kudos to the Robertson's for taking a chance on a troubled boy" - this while the "boy" is still on the run, along with several fellow outlaws - all possibly armed, considering three handguns have already been seized by Richmond RCMP. (Jump to the SUN and read it for yourself.) Hopefully the SUN will offer equally sincere kudos to any police officer who takes a bullet in the head, fired by any such "troubled" youth.

Simpler folk read something sinister in reports of OPINION CONVERGENCE - the media - the politicians- and the police start wearing kid gloves when dealing with armed drug crews. Jinagh Navas-Rivas isn't a buck-toothed Ozark hillbilly running a little moonshine. He's a good looking, self-assured young leader (remember the dapper Bacon brothers?) who has communed with many of Vancouver's financial-political elite. The smile may fool a Crown Prosecutor next week, but it doesn't deceive those of us grown tired of the handsome young gangsters peddling drugs in our province.

The National Post covered the launch of the free-distribution of crack cocaine smoking kits in downtown Vancouver. The Dec. 30/11 story is here - $60,000 Trial Project The news got got world-wide attention. Even the DRUDGE REPORT (two million page visits per day) linked to the story, which describes efforts of the Health Department to reduce disease associated with the slovenly use of narcotic drugs.

Launch of TAI YANG BAO- the VAN SUN publisher needs to lure readers of those pesky Chinese dailies which Hog all the Advertising $$$

Terribly trendy and eminently endangered, The Vancouver Sun , struggles to remain relevant in the 21st Century. Today Pacific Press launched a Chinese edition edition of the SUN which it is calling TAI YANG BAO. This is a screen capture from Vol. 1, day 1. Local Chinese readers can expect to read lots of puff pieces about real estate and plenty of propaganda from icky, sticky, tricky Vancouver City Hall.
There are many issues the TAI YANG BAO will not cover. It will not, for example, report on the crimes and misdemeanours of the "People's Government" (P.R.C.) or the Party, the C.C.P. The Chinese fleet could be off the coast of Vancouver Island, and you won't get any warning of it in the T.Y.B. For any insight in doing's in Beijing you might want to check out an alternative newspaper, the EPOCH TIMES. Here is a screen capture from today's edition. What! Didn't you know that Tibetans have been self-immolating in protest of Chinese military occupation?

The website for the English language EPOCH TIMES is here.

Chinese security police are shown here dragging out Tibetan resisters. Note the placards around their necks. The EPOCH TIMES regularly reports on Chinese repression in Tibet. The Vancouver Sun does not.

Silvano Cicuto convicted in NYC - former builder and contractor was focus of fierce opposition to construction of "Monster Houses" in Burnaby

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I enjoy reading Kim Bolan's reporting in the Vancouver SUN largely because she has been 'at it' long enough to add a veteran's perspective to crime and court stories, and issues which seem to bemuse younger reporters. Meaning what? Meaning that Bolan can remember a time when illicit drugs were not a hefty component of B.C.s economy, and a career option for many.

Her February 12th story details a case which other local media have not covered - a case which has been hidden from us. It involves B.C. men arrested in a sting in 2010, conducted by American police without the assistance of the RCMP. The DEA raids in Newark, New Jersey and Manhattan smashed a cross-border drug ring trafficking in Ecstasy and another synthetic drug called BZP. The name which caught my attention was that of a well known Burnaby contractor. The other man, a recently suspended Vancouver mortgage broker, was totally unfamiliar to me. Silvano Cicuto is identified by Bolan as residing in the city of New Westminster, but many will remember him as a Burnaby resident, often covered in Burnaby newspapers. Cicuto pled guilty last September to serious charges. The Americans had recorded his aggressive telephone conversations and waited for the Canadians to arrive in New York. His alleged accomplice, Luciano Mannu, is said to be from Vancouver and goes on trial tomorrow (Feb. 22). Two other men, drug couriers used by Cicuto, have also been tried.

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Kim Bolan's original story, "Tale of failing fortunes," is online [HERE]. Her followup piece, "Cicuto's smuggling sentencing delayed," is archived [HERE].

Mr. Cicuto pled guilty to all charges in a Manhattan courtroom, thus avoiding a public trial. He is represented by Manhattan Attorney Stephanie M. Carvlin who, says Bolan, "lays out Cicuto's life story...like an historical novel". His best excuse for organizing a high risk, cross-border drug smuggling ring, is that he was unable to recover from the loss of a million dollars that was owed to him when an Internet company - 360 NETWORKS, went bust. That alleged capital loss was said to have destroyed his contracting business, but his lawyer did not explain how.

Cicuto and Sons Contracting Ltd., once a booming business in Burnaby, is said to have employed up to 150 people. They still have a yard in South Burnaby. Cicuto is said to have been a great boss, a man who kept a "cantina" in the basement of his business, a man who treated employees like family, on occasion paying for trips to Disneyland. An examination of the Cicuto and Sons bidding history at the City of Burnaby (mostly culvert and waterline projects), shows that in the 1980s and 1990s their firm regularly sought contracts, some of which were in excess of half a million dollars. Sometimes Cicuto won the bidding competition, sometimes he didn't.

Mr. and Mrs. Cicuto shown in a 1989 publicity photo which the SUN obtained from the BURNABY NOW.
The records of the City of Burnaby and the two Burnaby newspapers contain a wealth of information on the Cicuto business and family. More than can shared in a brief Blog article. The Vancouver SUN asserts that Mr. Cicuto is "a complicated criminal" and that is undoubtedly true. From what I pieced together of Mr. Cicuto's open past, (in a few hours with microfilm and old Council Minutes) I surmise that "organized" is only sort of crime he would engage in.

A property owned by Silvano Cicuto, located at 1922 Edinburgh Street, New Westminster, was heavily damaged in an arson fire in 2010. The blaze is still under investigation. The SUN caption notes "Cicuto is currently in New York on organized crime charges."

Luciano Mannu (above) is the unknown in the case, as is his stated profession - the murky world of mortgage brokering. The B.C. Registrar of Mortgage Broker's revoked the licence of Mr. Mannu in May of 2010, when it learned that he was being held in a pre-trail center in New York city, having been arrested in a Drug Enforcement Agency sting. Mr. Mannu was a one-man "corporation," masking his business with a dummy Vancouver address. The details of the suspension of his REHAB CAPITAL CORPORATION are available as a FICOM download, here .

MONSTER HOUSES IN BURNABYAlthough the term "Monster House" has fallen out of fashion, it was once a major political and cultural issue in the Vancouver region. The construction of oversized houses, which broke up the staid and leafy profile of many Vancouver streets, was often blamed on newly arrived Hong Kong Chinese. It was claimed they lacked an appreciation for the West Coast aesthetic, and were displaying the arrogant behavior of the nouveau riche. Understandably, the Chinese saw the issue in B&W terms - ie. "racism". That's what it was, and the issue took 20 years to settle out. Meanwhile a legion of urban planners, activists and politicians made careers for themselves.
In Burnaby, the most famous builder of "Monster Houses" was Silvano Cicuto. His chapter of the tale started when he went to the Municipality and negotiated a covenant which would allow him to build a super-house on Burris Street, where he owned a 65,000 sqft lot. The Burnaby NEWS (now the NEWS LEADER) reported that "the rezoning for Cicuto's became one of the most controversial municipal issues of 1990. Neighbors and other residents seized on the proposal as a symbol of the evils of monster houses. Cicuto [Italian born] accused his critics of racism." It got worse. Cicuto overbuilt by 3,000 square feet before city inspectors caught on, and the media became intensely interested.

Dan Hilborn, covered the story for the BURNABY NOW. His report for April 3, 1981 began: "The public will get a chance to vent its anger against a house built more than 3,000 sq. feet larger than allowed under Burnaby zoning regulations. Tuesday night Burnaby aldermen were expected to approve a new public hearing on the 11,984 sq ft.ft. home of contractor Sivano Cicuto at 7347 [sic] Burris. St." In the report Alderman Corrigan is quoted as saying that Cicuto had phoned him and attempted to blame the whole mess on his architect. Corrigan, a lawyer by profession, was not about to be manipulated and indicated he didn't know where the truth lay. The news report added:"Since articles began running in local newspapers, daily media and television news, the family has been forced to call the police to stop window smashing and trespassing on the Burris Street property, Cicuto said." Circuto was particularly incensed with the Vancouver SUN which had ignored his many supporters, choosing to quote "an angry part-time newspaper reporter who lived several blocks away."
In his June 5, 1991 story Mr. Hilborn upped the square footage of the house, but his point was made: "The massive 12,500 square-foot Silvano Cicuto home at 7437 Burris will stand exactly as it was built." Cicuto had defeated his neighbors in Buckingham Heights, and City Council. Alderman Corrigan, for one, was still upset with Cicuto noted that Cicuto had already suffered the "punitive effect" of negative press coverage. (It's an argument his lawyer will also make at his sentencing hearing in New York.)
That didn't end it, because the Federal Fisheries experts had an ongoing interest in rejuvenating salmon s on the slopes around Deer Lake. Circuto's project had disturbed the creek which ran through his property, and he had spent good money to fix the problem. In 1993 a neighbors' redevelopment brought the matter of silting back before Council, and into the press. Cicuto had further plans for his property and he did not relish the attention.
In 1995 he applied for a relaxation of the very covenant which he had negotiated with the City in 1990. Why? His son planned to sub-divide the family's 1.5 acre property and build a 10,000 square foot house at the back of the newly created lot. An outraged neighbor remarked, "The bylaw restrictions in Burnaby are very generous as it is, and it just seems that everyone is pushing and pushing and pushing".
In 1991 Silvano Cicuto mustered a 378 name petition of support, and successfully "swayed" Burnaby Council. His lawyer in Manhattan has assembled a thick file of letters signed by his "passionate defenders," folks who suggest he is the victim of unscrupulous men who took advantage of his good nature. I think the judge in New York may be outmatched. If I had to guess, it would be that Mr. Cicuto will get a very light sentence and be returned to Canada to serve it.
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Fear and Loathing in Vancouver

Vancouver's gang war, the UN Gang vs Red Scorpions, got boring, so I had stopped commenting on it months ago. The police chief recently admitted on camera that local politicians had been twisting his arm, demanding he not admit what all the bodies in the gutter imply... that it is a war. Many of you get your daily drip of gore from the Vancouver SUN, which gooses each edition with crime news, and links news coverage to Bolan's Blog on the same website. The SUN is now requiring its writing staff to participate in building a web-presence for the newspaper...The inevitable is just over the horizon. The expensive printing and distribution crews will get their pink slips... look for it in 2012, and the paper will go to online subscription.

This morning's SUN story on the Bacon family appearing at the courthouse, featured handsome Jarrod Bacon looking like he wanted to audition for a part in a Bond movie. His photo prompts an anecdote shared with me last week by a Grade 12 student who had just taken his Transitions Exit Interview, a process required by the B.C. curriculum. The student wanted to impress, so he bought a new suit and had his hair cut for the interview. He told me that when he walked into the room the first words out of the teacher's mouth were, "Wow, you look just like a UN gang member!"

I found his story a tad funny because it indicates an apparent shift in local perceptions of criminality. We have a whole new image of what might now be making many local women jittery. Good looking young men... those who keep themselves fit and are well groomed and well dressed, may now be deemed physically threatening.

This prompts the question, "What is the investigative profile of the man who killed Wendy Ladner-Beaudry at Pacific Spirit Park last Friday?" The brutal death of Ms. Ladner, who was a member of Vancouver's ruling elite, has shocked fellow residents of the West Side, those who have always believed that money and class insulated them from the more sordid aspects of Vancouver's social evolution. Are the police looking for some bedraggled, long haired transient, or are the looking for some buffed up young bloke, who was seen in expensive runners and designer sunglasses? Ms. Ladner's husband insists that his wife would have met any attacker with a barrage of blows. It was interesting to read that, in spite of their being overtaxed by almost daily gang killings, the V.P.D. was able to deploy 75 officers and 20 vehicles to the scene of Ms. Ladner's murder, and maintain those assignments ever since. Apparently we have more law enforcement capability than we've been told.

And what to make of the recent Paul Rogers story "FROM HEAVEN TO HELL" published in the THE INDEPENDENT ? (Many opinions held by Vancouver residents are posted online under Rogers' article. Have a read.) Rogers, a visiting scholar at SFU, bit into some tender political flesh with that story. Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell offered reporters an identical denunciation - "a cheap shot", apparently annoyed that foreign media are unwilling to fall into lockstep with the local media.

Mr. Beaudry, who is distraught and angry, told the Vancouver Courier "If there's any good in this, it's that we can't give in to terror. We can't fold. Terror is a great tool, but we can't let terror take over."

Linda Lorraine Howe (seen here in Dec. 2008 Xmas party photo) alleges that she was allowed to slip through the mesh of Canada's social safety net.

What are we to make of Linda Howe? This is the woman who recently brandished two weapons inside a nursing home at Gibson's B.C., when attendants tried to evict her from a room she was no longer entitled to. Ms. Howe's response was to barricade herself in the room. After shooting an attendant she had to be taken down by a police tactical unit. I can understand how Ms. Howe managed to conceal a small Argentinian auto pistol in her room, but how did she manage to cache a .303 Enfield Rifle?

Ms. Howe is here seen in a surveillance photo, taken inside her room at the care home.

Linda Lorraine Howe of Gibsons, B.C. was armed with a 7.65 Bersa auto pistol, which was manufactured in Argentina in the 1970s. Which of her beau's was stupid enough to give this gun to a woman with emotional problems?

Ms. Howe has been alleging for years that our "system" has let her down. Which node of the system in particular? DND, ICBC, BC Health, et al. Howe has told anyone who will listen that she is a Canadian "veteran" of the Gulf War, suffering from "post Traumatic Stress Disorder". Her family have told news media that she made up the Gulf War service but I read in today's GLOBE AND MAIL that she enrolled in a Vancouver Military Reserve Unit for a few months in 1990. On the strength of that abortive attempt to fit in, the GLOBE today dubs Ms. Howe a "Veteran". How does someone who doesn't take enough reserve training to get Trade Qualified, warrant the honour of "Veteran"? Gee whiz !

This screen capture is precious, isn't it? Ms. Howe's crimes are deemed "alleged" but the neophyte reporter confirms her supposed status as a "military veteran". (Based on a few months on the nominal roll of reserve unit.) Ouch. I guess we really did let Linda down.

DEC. 20, 2010 - we learn today that Ms. Howe was sentenced to seven years of detention.

Palin "porn actress" column repudiated by CBC News Management in Toronto

The TV news watching public probably doesn't care that CBC News has a "publisher". It's a position held by a man named John Cruikshank, and he becomes news worthy today (September 29) because he just decided to issue an apology for a gross error in judgement. On September 5th the main CBC News website published an extremely vicious attack on Governor Sarah Palin and on Senator John McCain which goes beyond what the CBC can expect to get away with.

The libelous assault, which compared Gov. Palin to a "porn actress" was written with the intention of inciting hatred. The "journalist" also grossly mocked and insulted Palin's husband and children. This reprimand will not prevent the CBC from publishing more of Mallick. Indeed the CBC may relish the notoriety she brings. I note that Cruikshank, though publisher, had to have the matter brought to his attention by outraged readers. He was careful to let the CBC Ombudsman rule on the matter FIRST and to publish that ruling FIRST before he took second place with the official repudiation.

"Mallick's column is a classic piece of political invective. It is viciously personal, grossly hyperbolic and intensely partisan.
And because it is all those things, this column should not have appeared on the CBCNews.ca site."

In effect the CBC News publisher is supporting the decicion of the Ombudsman. That's an extremely safe position to be in.

I had never read a word Mallick has written, so I had to Google her piece. This is just a selection and I'm not providing a link. Judge for yourself what kind of woman she is.

This photo is from Heather Mallick's personal web page. It must be a favorite. This is how she sees herself, and this is how she wants you to see her. Her invective reveals much more , offering something terribly troubled. Methinks this woman needs to consult the shrink who helped Sylvia Fraser... Sylvia is a better woman and a much better writer.

“Palin has a toned-down version of the porn actress look favoured by this decade’s woman, the overtreated hair, puffy lips and permanently alarmed expression. Bristol has what is known in Britain as the look of the teen mum, the “pramface.” Husband Todd looks like a roughneck; Track, heading off to Iraq, appears terrified. They claim to be family obsessed while being studiously terrible at parenting. What normal father would want Levi “I'm a f**kin’ redneck” Johnson prodding his daughter? I know that I have an attachment to children that verges on the irrational, but why don't the Palins? I’m not the one preaching homespun values but I’d destroy that ratboy before I’d let him get within scenting range of my daughter again, and so would you. Palin’s e-mails about the brother-in-law she tried to get fired as a state trooper are fizzing with rage and revenge. Turn your guns on Levi, ma’am.” - (Heather Mallick Sept. 5)

Wow! And I thought the Vancouver SUN was leading the pack of haters. Sun columnists ain't got nuthin' on this Mallick bi*ch.

The McCain - Obama TV debate - what were Vancouverites smoking last night?

I didn't watch the first McCain - Obama Presidential Debate last night. Perhaps you did? My excuse is that TV debates rarely cover anything fresh, because of the risks involved, and I've already read a million words on that pair. I've said before that I like them both and I will be content with either man as U.S. President. It is very apparent that both are intelligent and fair, and that neither man is arrogant toward women. I'm certain that neither McCain or Obama will use executive power to coerce blow jobs from young women in the Oval Office. They both have good women at home.

Still, I know the level of hatred for the Republican party and for American conservatives which exists here in Vancouver. This city is world class when it comes to America haters, and if Osama ever gets tired of cave couture in Pakistan there are plenty of safe houses available to him in Greater Vancouver.

This morning I decided to check out the overnight viewer response to the Presidential televised debate. The first thing I noticed was that the wire services were calling it a draw. Even the BBC called it a draw, and BBC staffers loathe the U.S. Republican Party more than they hated the I.R.A. Don't trust my judgement? Do your own content analysis of articles archived by the BBC. Then get back to me.

Next I went over to Matt Drudge's site and this is what I found at 9:35 AM Vancouver time. Drudge had a clear and honest question. "Who won?" Over 323,000 votes showed McCain by a landslide.

Then I went to the Vancouver SUN website at 9:45 AM our time. I wanted to record the score so I voted "No clear winner" to gain access to the results. This is what I found. Over 71% for Obama and 19% for McCain. What we see at play is not analysis of a formal debate but rather an expression of deep seated dislike.

Now our Canadian Federal election has become a barrel of laughs, but there is precious little to joke about in the U.S. campaign. The Democrats are not funny. Alan Alda has not been hired to "balance" out the panel of pundits on CNN. No Sir! When the Republicans gutted much of their National Convention, in favour of focusing on the hurricane then building in the Gulf of Mexico, Democrats nationwide hooted and cheered, believing it gained them a tactical advantage (remember Michael Moore?) Then last week when Sen. McCain suggested that the Wall Street crisis was of equal importance, so why not delay the debate .... the Democrats in a chorus called the war hero a coward. A schemer. A charlatan. Vancouverites too, were seething.

And finally, cast your baby blue's over this. A Vancouver SUN columnist (and a Class-A hater) spews venom at Sarah Palin and.... surprise! he draws just the angry reaction he was hoping for. Then the little thumbsucker writes a column asking for RCMP protection. "Dear RCMP Officer - In the event of my untimely death..." he writes. The bully is actually the victim, don't you see? If the Canuck gets caught with a hockey bag full of coke in Vegas, he wants to be shipped back to B.C. to do his time in Eden. Sanctuary!

Well Dougie, I never read your stuff and I'm judging you by your phony outrage, but you don't make me angry. You're just another example of why I stopped buying the SUN eight years ago. Yes I still get calls from the Pacific Press subscription department ("65% off, guaranteed for three months, and no contract") and I always make a point of telling the hapless telephone solicitor just why I won't buy the SUN. Next time I get the call I'll be sure to mention your name.

Anti-Gang Spooks get wake-up call from the Vancouver Sun

"GANGSTERS, COPS MIX AT SURREY WEDDING"- I think this SUN piece is the most interesting news story published in Canada today, and I did make the effort to compare. I urge you to read Kim Bolan's investigation for yourself and ponder its significance. If you are trying to follow news of gang activity and the best attempts of law enforcement to put a small dent in the "Industry", you will understand what this article is saying.
Hat's off to Ms. Bolan. She has done more to identify the player's and the trends in Vancouver's anarchic sub-culture than have the entire West Coast news media combined. Her production is hard to keep up with.

I remember an anecdote a Vancouver detective once told me. "What if you were sitting in a restaurant and you recognized two men in the corner - the Mayor of Vancouver and a high ranking Gangster. Who are you going to tell?" The answer was "Nobody, if you want to have a career." Fortunately a few dedicated men and women have Kim Bolan to work with. Show them that we appreciate their courage. Keep up with your reading.