Showing posts with label Vancouver Riot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vancouver Riot. Show all posts

Monday, October 31, 2011

VPD recommend 163 charges against rioters



Nearly five months after rioters smashed windows, looted shops and set cars on fire, the Vancouver police say they have recommended 163 charges to be laid against 60 people allegedly involved in June's Stanley Cup final riots.

Ya gotta admire Jim Chu. He's in a completely different league than Pat Fogherty. Jim Chu is intelligent but he also has heart. He's a media magician but more importantly I really believe he cares. He cares about his job, he cares about the people he serves and he cares about the public interest. He is what we would describe as a good cop. They do exist and they restore our faith in the system.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Fine Them



Kim Bolan raised some interesting points about the Vancouver riot. She recounted how the rioters that were caught vandalizing things and assaulting people at the beginning of the Olympics basically got off with all but one of the charges being dropped. No wonder they came back to do it again.

The other point she raised was about how the current judicial system is in such a crisis having laid off all those sheriffs which has resulted in trial delays and adjournments. Convicting rioters would be expensive and the current system is out of money. Or is it?

Let's think about it for one minute. Gordon Campbell and Stephen Harper know how dead set against the HST the citizens of BC really are. They are spending a huge amount of tax dollars on dishonest adds trying to get us to vote in favor of raising taxes.

Laying off the sheriffs and putting the judicial system in a manufactured crisis was a publicity stunt. OK Gordon Campbell isn't there any more but all his former cabinet members are. All his MLAs that unilaterally drove ahead with the HST contrary to pubic opinion are there. Christy Clark is just a poster girl to resell it like Kim Campbell tried to resell Brian Mulroney's GST.

I don't believe there is a huge budget shortfall. These are the same people that closed Riverview and closed seniors homes while they gave themselves two huge pay raises and the very gold plated pension Campbell campaigned against when he was initially elected. They are inherently dishonest.

And just for the record, the HST is very much the Harper Sales tax. Harper was the one that bribed Gordon Campbell to push it through in BC. All the CONservative MP's towed the party line by voting in favour of it. Donna Cadmen said she opposed it but ducked the vote because she wasn't allowed to vote against it.

Kim Bolan suggested that since the system is so over budget, we should drop all the vandalism and theft charges and just proceed with the violent charges so we don't run out of money. Hold the door. The system isn't out of money and setting cars on fire, breaking store windows and looting businesses are violent crimes. Rioters getting in fist fights with each other is a natural consequence. We cannot drop charges against people who set cars on fire and loot businesses.

The answer is simple. Fine them. Fine them like you would for a parking ticket. If they want to, they can fight the parking ticket but they don't get a free lawyer to do so. If they don't pay the fine they don't get their car insurance renewed. It's that simple. This would save a ton of money and might actually pay for itself in fines. Not only that it would be easy to enforce. If a thousand people broke windows and stole things a thousand people could get tickets for vandalism and it would be totally manageable to enforce.

As one poster pointed out, dropping the charges against those caught on camera setting cars on fire, vandalizing and looting businesses will only see the problem increase dramatically. Issuing City fines for rioting like parking tickets would actually work. It's no different that red light cameras. You don't have to get a search warrant to find stolen property. That is way too costly and time consuming. If they are caught on camera looting and vandalizing then fine them. However, I do agree that the villains caught ganging up and assaulting the heros that were defendign persons and property should be criminally charged to the full extent of the law.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Important Lessons from the Vancouver Riot



I think the first simple but important lesson we have all learned from the Vancouver riot is that the police need locking gas caps. We all do. Locking gas caps has become as important fundamental crime prevention tool as the steering wheel club.

Who would have thought it was that easy to set a car on fire. These idiots weren't using petrol bombs, they were just stuffing rags in the gas tanks and lighting them. Locking gas caps would be a simple but important deterrent.

The other good thing we learned is that bragging about that kind of stupidity will see your friends turn you in which is wonderful. Setting cars on fire, vandalizing and looting businesses is stealing from us. Nothing to brag about. Reporting those idiots is automatic.

The next step is to enforce fines and civil damages for theft or vandalism. That's an important step. If you're caught trashing something in a riot, you will be forced to pay monetary fines and damages. And if you're an employable anarchist who is out there to crush social peace while you scab off the system and live off welfare, you just got cut off and disqualified yourself for social assistance. Bye bye. Welfare is an important safety net for the down trodden, but not for those employable men who abuse the system.

The other good thing we learned is that if something bad like that happens, the public can volunteer to help clean and rebuild. Something that would take much longer and be much more expensive without volunteers. Smurfs rock.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

The Morning After



"When evil men and women burn and bomb, good men and women must build and bind." Martin Luther King. Turns out the morning after the riot the volunteers are coming out to help clean up the mess and board up the broken windows. Three cheers. All the volunteers at the Olympics made that event a huge success.

Vancouver riot clean up brings locals and non-locals together. Facebook group aims to id rioters. "Prosecute the thugs." Vancouver Police Want Your Riot Video and Photos. Report them.

Anarchists on Crack



Handing out free crack pipes in east van isn't good enough for them. Now these fruit loop anarchists have to go and destroy a hockey game for a good city. Smash the Anarchists who steal from us. Report them and incarcerate them.

In Belfast the black flag didn't represent anarchy. It represented an objection to a social injustice. They would line the streets with black flags during an IRA funeral. They would wave a black flag when the Orange men would hold their parades of intolerance through Catholic areas of Belfast. Now the Anarchists want to crush social peace. These anarchists are the social injustice. Crush them.

The Stanley Cup Loss



Yes losing the Stanley cup in game seven was a disappointment. Even though that loss was completely overshadowed by the shameful after game riots, something should be said about the game.

Hat's off to Tim Thomas. He was a consistent champion. After getting our asses kicked so badly in Boston we hardly deserved to win the cup. Even though it was a long time waiting.

Historically, Vancouver has never really had a great hockey team. That's what made this year so special. Dealing with loss respectfully is an attribute of a die hard Canuck fan. It's irritating to see band waggon jumpers, jump onto the band waggon at the last minute when things are going well, then be the first to jump off the band waggon as soon as things go wrong.

Being a true Canuck fan means supporting your team in victory and in defeat. The Grizzles rarely won a game but we loved having them because we all wanted to see the big names from the NBA visit. Let's face it, we suck at basketball. In fact we suck at baseball and soccer too but who cares about baseball. That ranks right up there with curling and golf. OK Tiger Woods made golf interesting but without Tiger golf is pretty boring. Soccer is interesting so we still support the Whitecaps even though we never make the World Cup.

Hockey is the only thing Canada is good at. Well certainly not the only thing but the only professional sport. Yet the violence on and off the ice needs to stop. It is just a game. The on the ice violence in hockey is becoming like the WWF. Wrestlers have to keep outdoing themselves with more and more dangerous stunts until someone really gets hurt. That's not what it all about. Defending yourself is one thing but being a bully is another.

So I'm not going to burn my Canucks jersey. I'm going to still wear it with pride even though a whole bunch of lawless losers have stained it. My response it to find pictures of people committing unlawful acts of violence that night and identify and report them to the police. After all, this is our city and no huckleberry hillbilly is going to destroy it. Not if we have anything to say about it.

Lawless Losers



Well something needs to be said. The vast majority of Vancovuerites were outraged and ashamed of the childish idiots who seized the opportunity of the mob and rioted in Vancouver last night. That's the good news. Although it was more than a few troublemakers, the vast majority of the people from here were outraged.

As a result we saw a change in the response by the public. The public were not cheering on the idiots who turned over cars, set them on fire and vandalized stores. The vast majority were taking their pictures and reporting them to the police. This is a good trend.

One person on facebook bragged about all the things they did that night on their facebook status. One of that person's disgusted friends took a screen clip of that childish boast and posted it on a wall for the police to see. This is the social change we need to embrace to prevent being held hostage by a mob of lawless losers. Report them to the police.

When they burn a car or vandalize a store they are stealing from us. They're not just stealing from the owner of the car they set on fire. That hillbilly act raises insurance rates for all of us so in so doing they are stealing from all of us and as a result we as a people need to report that crime not hide it.

When these hillbillies break into a store or a bank and vandalize and loot it, they are stealing from all of us because the price of goods is raised to offset that loss. When they riot and vandalize things the increase policing costs us tax dollars so all that huckleberry hillbilly conduct costs us money. Do you think we are going to protect you now? Not likely. If you have pictures of people committing unlawful acts that night, submit them to the police. If you can identify anyone who was seen committing unlawful acts after the game last night, report them. That is your duty. The rats are the ones who were running around stealing from us. Only rats steal.

I will add that the vast majority of the idiots we saw causing problems last night were white trash. That is nothing to brag about. There were similar problems during the G-8 insanity in Toronto. A lot of people had a legitimate right to voice their concern and object to the extravagant waste of money on Harper's fake lake and fake promise of fiscal responsibility.

Yet the first day of the G-8 in Toronto saw many hillbillies from out of town come in and start rioting and looting. Like kids in a candy store they get all excited about the power trip from a mob and revel in their five minutes of fame compensating for their small man syndrome. We saw one real man on youtube do the right thing.

Yet the next day the police overcompensated and started beating random people who had signs instead of targeting the people they saw committing acts of vandalism. It's really not brain surgery. If you see someone throwing a rock in a store window or setting a car on fire, then you can give that person the boots and arrest him. You don't kick the cat and rob our precious civil liberties by giving random people the boots for exercising their democratic right to free speech.

In London England, they use to have a problem with football hooligans. Thugs who would exploit the mob and cause trouble. In response the police would stand shoulder to shoulder and confine the trouble makers to an area. Then they would send in the Calvary. Police on horseback that would charge in and beat the shit out of the violent thugs with truncheons. That's what I'm talking about. If you see them committing violent unlawful acts, deal with it.

There's nothing worse then seeing a line of riot police getting taunted by a handful of idiots embowered by the mob who throw things at them. When the police see a handful of idiots step away from the crowd to assault the police, that is when the line of riot police pick up their shield and baton and charge forward, past the handful of violent stragglers then reform a new line holding off the mob with the violent stragglers caught behind their line. That's when the police on their side beat the living shit out of the violent stragglers now caught behind their new line. That is Sparta.

When the police are caught on video beating an innocent person like Rodney King, the public are outraged. Yet people are equally outraged when idiots loot, vandalize and set cars on fire. If the public sees a violent idiot commit unlawful acts during the riot, then they see the police attack him with a truncheon, then the public cheer. It really is that simple. If you see him committing a violent crime, take him down. If he is standing there with a sign claiming his charter right, leave him alone.

Several months ago I spoke with someone visiting here from Chicago. He talked about the Chicago riots. He said he lived in the suburbs at the time and they were worried the riots would come out to the suburbs and damage their homes and property. He said they all had guns and took to the street and said if you bring that violence here, we will shoot you dead. We can argue about gun control until the cows come home. Those neighbours bringing out their long guns and standing shoulder to shoulder against the mob during the Chicago riots contained them and prevented the riots from spreading like a wild fire into the suburbs. All I know is if that kind of violence comes into my neighbourhood, my neighbours and I are not going to stand by and watch.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Canucks get their ass kicked




Obviously the Canucks are still in this. Obviously it would be better to win the cup on home ice and obviously we completely got our ass kicked tonight. Sure a win by one goal in overtime is equal to a win by seven goals of regulation time but this slice of humble pie showed Boston's greatness.

Luongo had a bad night. It can happen to anyone. He's still our man. Give respect where respect is due. Tim Thomas was on fire. He had a good night. Tomorrow is another day. Win or lose, I think it's important to keep things in perspective. When a lot of people are gathered together in one spot all it takes is a few low life losers to turn things sour in the after game celebrations.

Rioting over a hockey game is really stupid. Vandalizing and looting has nothing to do with hockey. It's just a few dirt bags seizing the opportunity of an angry crowd. We can still shine in defeat as well as in victory. The funny video about the Bruin fan in Vancouver was right. Vancouver is a beautiful city. There is no need to trash that beauty by letting a few scum bags riot.

I do think we'll win the cup but I do realize it's far from over and it could easily go either way. Canada won the gold in the hockey at the Olympics because they won the key games which were close. They did have some setbacks along the way. Even if we win the series and take the cup I think it's important to acknowledge that in game 3 Boston kicked our ass. Yet even with this defeat, it's far from over.

Let's hope Nathan Horton is OK. No one like to see those kinds of injuries in a hockey game. What does this have to do with organized crime? Absolutely nothing. But let's face it, the Canucks in the Stanley cup playoff finals overshadows everything.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Burrows Magic



How about Burrows overtime goal against Boston? That was magic. Like the commentator said, I don't know about game one but in game two Burrows sure took a bite out of Boston. They were all complaining and claimed that Burrows bit a guys finger in game one. In the photo it just looked like they were pushing and the Bruin stuck his open hand in burrows face and crammed his finger in Burrows mouth. It sure didn't look like he pulled a Mike Tyson and intentionally bit the guy. Moral of the story: Don't stick your hand in his face.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The Vancouver Canucks



How about them Canucks?! Torres scores late in the third period to give Canucks the win in Game 1. They had the game on the big screen at Surrey Central. The game was 0 - 0 at the end of the second period. Lots of silly penalties on both sides yet both teams power plays were ineffective and the game remained scoreless.

I'm thinking to myself, the Canucks are still in this. Kesler is winning most of the face offs. No one is really dominating the game. Even if the Canucks had lost game one, they'd still be in it. They have a very real chance at actually winning the series and winning the Stanley cup for the first time in history.

Boston is a great city and I rather lose to Boston than some of the other places but that just might not happen. We just might win. Back in the day the Boston Bruins had some pretty big names like Bobby Orr when they won the Stanley cup, but we have the big names now: Kesler, Luongo, the Sedins, Bieksa.

There have been quite a few Youtube videos to get people pumped up about the series. Someone put Eminem's Lose Yourself to Cannucks footage. Someone else rewrote Bruno Mars The Lazy Song to a Canucks theme. Then there was a funny video about a Bruins fan in Vancouver that even made the paper. And of course there's Drake and the black, red, yellow. It's just a game right? Yeah right. This is history. Boston Pizza even changed their name for the playoffs.



Remember how Towel Power started? That was in Chicago. It was a protest against bad officiating. It is now a tradition. We're all pretty nervous watching the games. It's not until after the game with a win on paper that the cars start honking across the province. It's a taste of the Olympic spirit that swept Vancouver in 2010.

Interesting to note that Colin Fraser brought the Stanley cup to Surrey in 2010. He was from Surrey but actually played for the Chicago Blackhawks when they won the Stanley cup. Longtime Abbotsford resident Scott Bradley is playing with the Bruins this year.

I tell ya what's going to save Surrey. Immigration. I remember years ago when they changed the name of Whalley Exchange to Surrey Central. We all laughed and said you can change the name but you can't change Whalley. But they have. The demographics has changed considerably. Back in the day a Surrey rat was a white kid with long hair, daytons, a scruffy jean jacket and a lumberjack shirt who listened to heavy metal music. Surrey Central with the new University and all the new construction is changing. Soon it will host the new library and city hall. Sure some of the old jokes and stereotypes continue but things are changing. The future lives here.



Seeing photos of a canucks jersey on the statue of Lord Stanley at Stanley park just clued me in. That's the same Lord Stanley the cup is named after. He was governor general at the time and donated a cup to be used for a championship between the various hockey teams. Indeed the cup is coming home.