Friday, January 22, 2010

Welfare in East Vancouver


Ethan Barron from the Vancouver Province recently published an editorial about welfare in East Vancouver. It was a part of their ongoing series Operation Phoenix. http://www.theprovince.com/Time+stagger+welfare+payouts/2453749/story.html

Ethan's editorial is well written and true enough but I want to shed light on another side so his observations don't get misinterpreted as heartless stereotypes.

When I was young I remember my father telling me about a tradition within the United Church of Canada. First United has always been active in providing nonjudgmental support in East Van. My father told me how one of the traditions in becoming a minister for the United Church was to spend a night on the streets in East Van with a limited amount of money.

The intent of the exercise was to show the minister how hard it is to make ends meet on the street. He talked about how some ministers found shelters and food lines. He also said one minister in particular became very frustrated and overwhelmed with the task. He said she saw first hand how futile the struggle was. She realized that with the money she had, she had to chose between a meal and a night indoors, she couldn't have both.

This minister was so frustrated with the insanity of the task, she bought a large bottle of cheap wine with her money and shared it with the homeless on Pigeon corner. He told the story with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye and explained how many traditional members from the church were somewhat upset with her decision. He relayed the story to me without passing judgement as he thought it was amusing.

Indeed it was but it was sad as well. Sad because it was real. Welfare is not a lot of money. It's next to nothing. If you can't prove you have a permanent residence you even get less. You just get a food allowance not a shelter allowance. Even with the minuscule shelter allowance it really isn't enough to pay for a month in a dirty cheap hotel. For all practical purposes the money they give you for the month is not enough to last the month. So what do you do? It is enough to buy one night of stimulants to numb the pain of living on the street.

Ethan's article is right. This is where the drug dealers cash in. They exploit these people and get rich off them. One retired police officer likened these drug dealers to predators. Rightfully so. Closing down Riverview and putting all the mentally ill on the street was an abomination. Especially when the politicians who did so gave themselves two big fat raises and a gold plated pension after doing so. Abominable.

Not all homeless are mentally ill but many mentally ill are homeless and they end up in East Van because security guards move them on and corral them there. They push them out of Gastown and out of Chinatown and force them into East Van. Sid row as it's known.

Look how hard it is for the average person to make it between paychecks when they get paid every two weeks. Try budgeting your money when you get next to nothing once a month instead of every two weeks. And don't tell me it's easy living off the foodlines. I've volunteered there. Often the food donated is past the expiry date.

I remember seeing one female who looked uncomfortable and ashamed at the foodline. She looked at the mush for dinner and with a tear in her eye looked and me and apologetically said she couldn't eat it. No problem I said and took the plate away to avoid further embarrassment. I could see her pain. She was not scamming the system. She was adjusting to life on the street.

Addiction has always been an element of East Van. If it wasn't heroine or cheap wine it was aftershave which killed brain cells and reduced a person's ability to function. Now the crack epidemic is worse. A crack addict is far more violent than a heroine addict. Getting off the crack when dealers are in your face crying "Crack, Crack, Crack" as soon as you have a couple bucks in your pocket makes overcoming addition next to impossible.

We need to target the predators not the prey. We need to get rid of the crack dealers and the organized "clubs" who bring the cocaine into the country to be sold as crack. Food stamps are good. I'm all for giving the homeless food and shelter. I am opposed to buying them drugs. As Vancouver's Davinci said, staggering welfare payments is also a step forward. http://www.theprovince.com/Time+stagger+welfare+payouts/2453749/story.html

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Peter Leak Decision under review



One of Peter Leak's decisions is finally being appealed. I'm not going to hold my breath. In my opinion the corrupt judicial system in B.C. covers it's own ass. http://www.theprovince.com/news/Appeal+court+asked+resurrect+charges+drug+trafficking/2435049/story.html

I am told Judges can't get fired here unless their decisions keep getting appealed. That is why they keep watering down their decisions so they don't get appealed. Time for the prosecution to put the same pressure the defense does by appealing bad decisions.
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Only that costs a lot of money and given the judicial treason we face, unlikely an internal mechanism will correct itself. We need legislation to fire bad judges.
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Here's one Peter Leask decision that was over turned: http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/CA/09/03/2009BCCA0388.htm
We need to make a list and fire him. He is clearly sitting on the wrong side of the bench.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Eyebrow Jobs



Speaking of Eyebrow Jobs, I was at Willowbrook Mall yesterday. I was walking through the mall and I passed a ladies make up place and two guys were sitting in chairs getting their make up done. I'm like WTF and do a double take and walk back to take a look.

Sure enough, two guys are sitting in chairs getting their eyebrows done at Meryle Normans in public for everyone to see. Now, I have no problem with someone being homosexual. I just have a problem with liars and fakes. Guys getting their eyebrows done at Merle Normans on a Saturday afternoon? That is fucked up.

What's happened to Langley? You don't see that shit in Surrey. I remember Langley. Quarter miles races out at Harvey road and Latimer road. Times have sure changed. Like I said, if someone is gay, I have no problem with that. I have a problem with someone pretending to be a hard core gangster from the hood and pulling that kind of lame ass bullshit.

Somehow I don't see Clint Eastwood in Grand Torino getting his eyebrows done at Merle Normans. Someone commented a while back on William Bowden's photo and said nice brow job. I'm like what the hell are they on about and took a closer look at the photo. Bloody hell, I said, he does have an eyebrow job.

Now, I'm all for personal hygiene and I realize that bushy Groucho Marx eyebrows aren't the most attractive thing to look at but WTF. These guys are pretending to be hardcore gangsters. Back in the day in the real City they would say yo bro you're noise is weak. Only that shit isn't just weak it's wacked.

Bilbo Baggins, the Hells Angel from Winnipeg charged with manslaughter that was caught with a retired cop with drugs and firearms getting his eyebrows done at Merle Normans. WTF is this world coming to?

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Assault on prostitute in Maple Ridge



This one I find disturbing. We've read about Hells Angels enforcers cutting off a finger for a drug debt. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/found+Fraser+River+part+Prince+George+gang/1952430/story.html
Yet this case clearly opens Pandora's box. A guy viciously physically and sexually assaults a prostitute in Maple Ridge allegedly telling her her husband owed money to the Hells Angels and was in danger of being killed. http://www.theprovince.com/Five+years+jail+vicious+assault+prostitute+Maple+Ridge/2353301/story.html
Just because someone says that doesn't mean they are really affiliated with the Hells Angels on Hells Angels business but it is curious as to why he would say that.

The brutality of the assault is disturbing as well as the location. A physical and sexual assault on a prostitute in the name of the Hells Angels in the same general area as Piggy Palace. Disturbing indeed.

Hells Angel loses Airport Appeal



As much as I dislike the Hells Angels selling drugs and as much as I dislike the Hells angels playing the victim, I find this case puzzling. Why would anyone try to board an airplane with a loaded gun in their carry on? You put it on the conveyor belt knowing it will be x-rayed. http://www.theprovince.com/news/Hells+Angel+loses+appeal+over+handgun+conviction/2418444/story.html
That was Villy's defense. He claimed he didn't own the gun and no one would carry a gun on a plane knowing they would be caught. To me that argument does make sense. Peter Leask tried that with Glen Hehn. He claimed that Hehn would be out of his F-ing mind to keep that much cocaine in his own storage locker.

Only that case I disagree with completely. Glen Hehn may be a mean sob but he doesn't seem like the sharpest knife in the drawer. He doesn't seem that bright. He was caught red handed carrying the boxes of cocaine from his locker onto a truck. Two associates plead guilty and took the fall but that plea doesn't make sense. No Hells Angels associate is going to move that much cocaine without the Hells Angels knowledge and permission.

Villy's case at the airport is different. OK maybe toothless isn't very bright either. No doubt he's another mean sob. He was charged with mischief after allegedly breaking all the windows of a complainant's car with a baseball bat. Maybe he just forgot the gun was there and forgot to take it out. It sure wouldn't have been very bright.

However, the papers connecting the Hells Angels to the Jesters and the Outcasts found on his possession were an interesting read. Still part of me wonders if he was set up with the gun charge. That doesn't excuse the other charges he had. Yet if he wasn't set up he must have got his ass kicked for being so stupid.

Yet someone else just did the same thing: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/sentenced+months+concealed+handgun/2416261/story.html
As someone suggested another plausible motive was they were hoping someone working on the inside would have let them through like at the border. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=7be57f99-be99-4b5a-8b55-8dc28f7cf73b&k=11951

After all, the Hells Angels have been accused of infiltrating the airport security in Calgary and Edmonton: http://www.zimbio.com/Mark+Guardado/articles/34/Hells+Angels+infiltrated+airports+Edmonton

Maybe they realize wearing Hells Angels colours is like wearing a target that says shoot me: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=7204225

Friday, January 1, 2010

The 2009 Vancouver Gang War in Review



2009 is referred to in Vancouver as the year of the gang war where gang violence over the sale of crack and crystal meth has rocked the community. The spark that outraged the community was the Surrey Six murder on October 19 2007 where a gang hit killed two innocent bystanders. The violence continued and peaked in 2009.

As the New Year and the new decade is upon us let's take a look at the year and the local war in review. As the video says "These Demons must be healed, revealed and crack the silence sealed because violence feels much deeper than the wound inflicted. A family infected, people disrespected, when will we begin to put it into perspective?"

In October of 2009 Joshua Hendrick was found dead floating down the Fraser River. According to the police, Hendrick was with the Crew, who run crack shacks and collect drug debts for the Hells Angels. According to Little Kim, he was was arrested in 2005 with Scott Payne a Crew leader who was convicted of aggravated assault for hacking off the finger of a drug addict over a $170 drug debt. Was Hendrick going to testify against his coaccused? http://www.vancouversun.com/news/found+Fraser+River+part+Prince+George+gang/1952430/story.html



Sex trade worker Lisa Francis was found dead in the Fraser River in 2009. Sex trade worker Annette Allan was also found dead dumped in the Fraser River back in 2001. Police say she was murdered at the Surrey house of horrors Crack house. Sex trade worker Yvonne Boen's DNA was found in the same crack house police believe Annette Allan was murdered in as well as on the Picton farm. http://gangstersout.blogspot.com/2009/10/worst-little-whore-house-in-surrey.html



The seventh human foot washed up on shore in the Vancouver area in 2009. Completely unrelated of course. Yet they have more boating accidents in other parts of the world but they don't have human feet washing up on shore. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discoveries_of_human_feet_on_British_Columbia_beaches,_2007%E2%80%932009

The fact that Yurik hacked up his hits has nothing to do with it. Much: http://gangstersout.blogspot.com/2009/10/hired-hits-and-gory-dismemberments.html

In February of 2009 hundreds marched in Vancouver in memory of the missing women calling for a public inquiry: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/02/14/van-missing-womens-march.html



A few weeks before Hendricks body was pulled out of the Fraser River a MAC II Machine gun with a silencer was found in a plastic bag floating down the Fraser River. Police say that firearm was involved in several gang related shootings in the Vancouver gang war. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Police+trace+deadly+machine+pistol+linked+Vancouver+gang+shootings/2082564/story.html

Jody York's house was shot at as well as one of his relatives. Hells Angels associate Dru Cilliers was shot and killed in January of 2009 in Surrey. Hells Angel Len Pelletier cosigned the loan for Dru's Harley. Pelltier lives in a gated fortress and is cousins with Nomad Bob Green. He was shot at picking up his kid from high school in Langley in September 2007.

Dru's memorial was held in T-Barz strip club and many Hells Angels attended. In fact, T-Barz was the site of two other gang related shootings in 2009 and according to Russel Peters T-Barz is owned by his pal Hells Angel Randy Jones: http://www.gangstersout.com/registry.htm#rj

Back in July of 2008 UN member Elliot Castaneda and a friend were gunned down in Mexico. Not long before that he was seen with Matt the Rat Schader, a Hells Angel Associate who sucks up to the UN while Ron Lisling and John Punko were caught on tape saying the UN were not welcome in the entire province and they will pound anyone who does business with them.

In September of 2009, two Hells Angels Associates Gordon Kendal and Jeff Ivans were also gunned down in Mexico. These were two fun loving guys from Kamloops who got involved in buying drugs for the Hells Angels in Mexico. Photos of their brutal murder were posted in the Mexican news. http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/701994

Joe Bralic was another Hells Angels associate gunned down for dealing cocaine this time in LA back in 2004. The Hells Angels tried to recruit him for MMA. Many patch members attended his funeral: http://thetyee.ca/News/2004/05/15/The_Deal_that_Killed_Superman_Part_2/

The Hells Angels have not stayed out of the violence in the Vancouver Gang war. They do business with all of the players and are the largest suppliers of cocaine in the country. The leadership of the Independent Soldiers has changed. They are not independent any more. According to police they are puppets of the Hells Angels now.




Hells Angel Larry Amero was seen with IS member Randy Naicker who was at a meeting with the Bacon brothers at Castle Fun Park in Kevlar. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Founder+Metro+Vancouver+gang+Independent+Soldiers+parole/1993805/story.html

Larry's friends are Bacon Brothers friends which makes the original take over of the Red Scorpions very suspicious: http://gangstersout.blogspot.com/2009/11/red-scorpions-and-hells-angels.html

On the bright side, local activist Eileen Mohan was named Leader of the Year in 2009: http://www.gangstersout.com/leaderoftheyear.pdf

God bless her. May the public stand as one in 2010 and report these drug dealers to Crimestoppers because ratting out a rat isn't being a rat. Not doing so is. Word. http://www.bccrimestoppers.com/