Live Local and Latebreaking

Thomas Anthony Proniuk (seen here with a daughter to be proud of)
may be back out and about soon.

The North Burnaby neighborhood terrorized by last week's pellet gun and bear spray rampage are waiting to hear the results of the suspects second hearing Monday morning in New West.
Will he be heading over with a real rifle this pm? Will he cool his heels in the jug a while more at least?
They're getting hourly reports on Susan Boyle instead.
Weak.

Unelected, Unaccountable, Unknown

Crown prosecutor Teresa Mitchell-Banks - for not at least trying to get gangster Johnny Porker and his idiot pal locked up.
Judge Pedro de Couto - for not manning up despite the lack of effort from the "prosecution" (yeah, right) and getting these two behind bars, no bail, halo, non, nyet, fahgeddaboudit anyway. Do the right thing. Surprise the hell out of me for a change.

BC Supreme Court "Justice" (sure) Deborah Satanove - for handing Jaren Feser a conditional sentence of two years less a day to be followed by 18 months probation for driving drunk and damn near killing six people.
"Prosecutor" Tara Laker for her "joint submission" with the defence that a conditional sentence would be “appropriate”. Way to play hardball there, Tara.

Hyas mahsie to you all, big, big thanks on behalf of a grateful public who know our safety is paramount with you.

Shots Fired in North Burnaby

and really, who knew?

"Just after 9 pm on January 8, 2009 the Burnaby RCMP received a number of reports of people hearing shots fired in the 8700 block of Centaurus Circle. Numerous officers were dispatched and attended to the area. A number of spent shell casing were located. Neighbourhood inquiries were done, however, no one actually saw the shots being fired. At this time the Burnaby RCMP have received no reports of any property damage, or injuries to a person. The Police Dog attended to the scene as did the Forensic Identification Section.The Burnaby RCMP have no information to indicate why this occurred in this area. ..."

Well, its not far from my area (I walked over to take the pic) and friends who live in that neighborhood tell me its become, like much of the district, a place where drug dealers operate openly in the streets. So that takes care of the "why" mystery.

Now, nothing of this appeared in any media I can find and that's not really surprising. Lacking a bullet-riddled corpse or two, or at least a shot-up vehicle, the Vancouver media take little interest in such events out in what is to them the boonies And of course, the local papers in the burbs tend to be puff pieces wrapped in ads, pretty much useless for real news reporting.

All of which makes me think that, as bad as the guns and gangs problem seems, its probably even worse because its actually under-reported. How many of these incidents occur out here in the burbs and don't become general knowledge?

http://bc.rcmp.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=50&contentId=7741&index=5&rpp=10&languageId=1&contentId=-1

Earth to Wally ... Earth to Wally

What, me worry?"

No sooner had Gordie Campbell's Attorney-General Wally Awful set a personal best in Politician Most Out of Touch with Reality then he goes and blows it away entirely.
It seems that Ol' Wall has finally figured out what's at the root of the gang warfare spraying bullets around the Lower Mainland again lately: the public.
Yeah, that's right, Wally figures thee and I know all sorts of gangsters who are up to all sorts of nasty gangster stuff, but we're not turning all these nasty gangsters in.
Well, Wally's really getting all tuff on crime now, yessiree and he has a message: Start turning those gangsters in, folks.
Someone (how about his boss? While he's firing Wally) needs to inform Wally that a) most law-abiding subjects do not know any gangsters, Wally and
b) if they do, they're not going to go to court and testify only to have some judge let the gangsters out to kill them, Wally.
Wally's fun in his goofball way, but he really does have to go.

Well, This is Good for Tourism, huh, Gordie?

"Gang shootings plague Vancouver police, officials" -AP

As it seems so very important that the Americans know all about us, its no doubt good to see the AP and Seattle PI are paying close attention to the gang warfare blazing on the streets of Metro Vancouver these days.

"Another spasm of gang violence in the metropolitan area has residents worrying once again whether the city is becoming a free-fire zone.
On Friday afternoon, two gunmen pumped multiple rounds from what Royal Canadian Mounted Police say were prohibited firearms into a pickup truck outside a supermarket at a suburban mall in Langley as shoppers were getting their weekend groceries."

Yup, just what the doctor ordered for tourism, which has, after all, been booming in recent years.
Yeah, right.

"Police also have warned that rivals are gunning for the three Bacon brothers, who are out on bail while facing firearms and drug charges. Jamie Bacon escaped an attempted hit while driving in Abbotsford last month."

But none of this would justify keeping them locked up of course, just ask the judges who sprung them. Just ask Gordie Campbell's Attorney General - Wally Awful.
Who the hell are these judges who let these three specimens out to live amongst us?
Why don't we see their faces, why don't we know their names?
Why don't we get a vote on whether they keep their jobs?

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_canada_vancouver_gangs.html

For Gordie Campbell - Some Free Advice

And free advice is always worth the price.

Now, its become clear recently that, despite Himself's clear belief, the Gordie Campbell Crew may just have their work cut out for them to beat Carole the Nice and Co. in the next election.
And so, since nothing says "uppity peasant" like presuming to advise King Gordie, allow me:
Step one must be replacing his current miserable excuse for an Attorney General with someone who is, unlike Wally Awful, not so far out to lunch he's picnicking on Pluto.

Anyone who heard Wally's sputtering attempt at defending his pals on the bench Friday on CKNW's The World Today with Jon McComb must by now understand what some of us have maintained since his appointment:

As a judge, Wally was part of the problem for so long there's not a chance in hell he could be part of the solution.

Clearly, Wally is of the school that holds the answer to crime is warm and fuzzy hugs and umpteenth chances, you know, all that good stuff that got us into the mess we're in now. Reminds one of Einstein's Scientific Definition of Insanity: to keep doing the same thing over and over and expect a different result.

Now, that's not to say I find Wally a complete waste of air, he's really quite amusing in his woolly-headed way. To hear Wally charge his critics with being "irresponsible" is, after all, the height of unintended comedy. Boffo laffs, in his way, is Ol' Wall.

Hey, Wally, twiddling your thumbs while gangsters spray bullets in shopping mall parking lots is irresponsible. Presiding over a system in which judges grant anyone and everyone bail while handing down ridiculously light sentences and doing bugger all about it is irresponsible. A system that allows the Bacon brothers and their ilk to roam free is irresponsible. Sitting on a report on sentencing we all know is going to reflect badly (to put it mildly) on your buddies in the judiciary is irresponsible.

You may have noticed that Wally's standard line of bovine excrement inevitably kicks off with a nice, pompous "the public needs to understand..." - why Wally and his high-minded friends are so much more enlightened than us rabble about crime and punishment, how its all Ottawa's fault, how, really, in the end, really nothing can or should be done. And as long as Wally's in charge, nothing will be done.

Well, what Wally needs to understand is that even with that ol' ethnic block vote thang, he can get his sorry ass blasted out the door if the voters decide they've had enuff. We can only hope.

In the meantime, he should be gone from cabinet.

Calling BS on Crime Stats

You're an intelligent person (most of you, the rest, I get your emails too). You wonder why it is that what yourself and those you know experience and observe of the incidence of crime just doesn't seem to jibe with the constant refrain from governments and the press releases are stories; just rip and run (cut and paste) MSM: crime is always down, and besides, canerduh is the safest place on Earth; why, just imagine if you lived in that hell hole to the south etc...

Perhaps you've been to yon hell hole (its just south of White Rock) and found you didn't spend all your time dodging bullets. I know I have.
Have another look at the graph up there.

"Over the past few decades, the advent of victim surveys has facilitated a broader understanding of the crime problem as well as a better assessment of its burden on citizens at the international level. While in the past only police and criminal justice data were used to measure crime, it is now widely acknowledged that such information alone is not sufficient and should be integrated with victim surveys results. Surveys of victims of crime are a more comparable tool to assess risks across countries and world regions. The International Crime Victim Survey (ICVS) represents the major research project in this respect, with more than 150 surveys done in over 80 different countries since 1989. ..."

What that means is no politicians spinning smoke and mirrors, never mind the plea bargains (take a hatchet to half the neighborhood and get it down to "careless use of a horticultural implement") and all that case thrown out on a technicality stuff.

If you've had this vague feeling you've been getting (how to put this politely?) bullshitted about the effectiveness of canerduh's joke of a criminal justice system, there's something to consider.
While you're at it, have a look at this :



"Selected contact crimes - robbery, sexual assault and robbery with force." Nasty, nasty, scary stuff, huh?

Canerduh just doesn't seem to measure up on the old personal safety meter, does it?

There's plenty more where this came from and your correspondent, at least, is digging in, you're invited. And you're also invited to consider throwing all this at some pol the next time the orthodox crime catechism begins.

http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/Crime-Victims-Survey.html

Halloween? Humbug!

Firefighters attending Halloween 2007 festivities in a typical North Burnaby park.

Ah, Halloween. Arson, vandalism, hooligans running wild all night secure in the knowledge that what few cops there are in Burnaby couldn't possibly get around to spoiling the fun.
What will be the final tally of all the damage done?
How many tons of fireworks debris will litter the land this year?
How are your nerves with the periodic explosions?
Halloween has surely done enough harm by now to raise the question: Why do we do this? Why put up with all this every year?
"Oh, but David", you say (I hear you, don't doubt it) "you old grouch, you forget what this wonderful festival is all about: little children taking candy from strangers.
Yeah, well, you've got me there.

Our Burnaby City Life Series Continues

Open air drug dealing flourishes in a cop-free environment.


Typical hobo spoor in a typical North Burnaby park. The smell is worse.

Community Court? Are They Kidding?

I'd say ten years hard labor just for the hair alone

A vicious, unprovoked attack that leaves the victim unconscious, his jaw broken and so on, and it goes to this newly-hatched faux community court?
Are they serious?
Vancouver's community court is designed to be a farcical exercise in diverting drug addicts who are habitual criminals from canerduh's travesty of a justice system to non-existent detox and treatment.
The only place for this (alleged) waste of skin, if convicted, is prison.

NDP Vow To Get Tough On Crime

The trouble is, the NDP have had opportunities in the past to get tough on crime and, well, passed on them.
Remember Bill C-275 introduced in the Commons November 15, 2004?
Sure you do, Carley’s Law. Yeah, that one, getting tough on drunken drivers. Here's Burnaby-Douglas NDP MP Bill Siksay explaining in an email why he and his party voted against Carley’s Law.:

"Dear Mr. In North Burnaby

Thank you for your recent message regarding Bill C-275.

I did not vote for this bill because I was concerned that it removed the concept of criminal intent from consideration in cases where someone may have left the scene of the accident for innocent reasons. I also have difficulty with mandatory minimum sentences. I believe that there is good reason to allow judges to exercise discretion when sentencing by taking into consideration the particular circumstances of the case. I am also not convinced, from my understanding of the experience of those jurisdictions that have mandatory minimum sentence, that they have been effective in ensuring convictions or in deterring or preventing the crimes to which they are attached. There is also mixed opinion here in Canada as to whether a further extension of mandatory sentences in the area of impaired driving will have the desired effect.

I have attached a copy of the speech made by the NDP's Justice Critic, Joe Comartin, MP, on this bill. Mr. Comartin goes into greater detail on some of the concerns we had with the bill.

It was not easy to vote against this bill given the horrible consequences to far too many Canadians of drunk driving. But I do believe that I did so for very serious reasons.

Thank you for taking the time to contact me on this important issue.

Sincerely yours,
Bill Siksay, MP
Burnaby-Douglas"

Can't you just see Cactus Jack Layton and Buffalo Bill Siksay ridin' into town, roundin' up all the ornery, no-good varmints and packin' 'em off to the hoosegow?
No?
Me neither.

Dudley Does It Again

David Glenn Moody, all 5' 6" 140lbs of him, fought off more than one RCMP member according to reports, and escaped after a Mission, BC RCMP member took him outside the detachment for a smoke.
May I suggest that, since the RCMP have such a dismal record of "getting their man" in the first place, that they then not proceed to put themselves in a position where their obvious lack of physical conditioning and training will result in yet more dangerous criminals roaming free to prey on the rest of us? Thanks a lot, Dudley.

King of This Town

(with apologies to Roger Miller)

Don't need to pay no rent
sleepin' underneath a vent.
Free dope, free needles too.
There's the alley where I poo.

I smoke crack right in front of cops;
Steal from houses, cars and shops.
I get off scot-free. They've made me
King of this town.

Old Larry Campbell rocks.
All the wisdom that he talks.
He does his best for me.
He saved the shootin' gallery.

And now, that Mayor, he's the man.
Let me hit it in his van.
This beats Calgary. They've made me
King of this town.


I know every sucker judge
who cries over me.
Every bailiff
and how long I'll be.

And you know I know that it won't be long;
It won't be long 'til I'll be out and singin' this song.
'Cause I -

Don't need to pay no rent ...