DAILY NEWS – February 22, 2011

DAILY NEWS – February 22, 2011

DATELINE: SOON TO BE AT THE END OF HIS ROPE (HOPEFULLY) – It can’t be long now before that asshole Dick Cheney comes on television to remind us what a great guy and loyal friend Moammar has been… at least to Halliburton. How the hell can anyone say otherwise about Gadhafi? Last week, the Libyan leader urged Palestinians to follow the model set by Egypt and rise in protest against oppression and government abuse. Hmmm, bet he would love to fucking take those words back, now that his own people have also taken this advice. God forbid they want a better life than what they were offered under Gadhafi Duck. The ‘flaky’ ‘mad dog of the Middle East’ (love him or hate, old Rocket Ronnie had a way with a phrase) has responded by having his fighter planes and helicopters open up on the people gathered to kick his ass out of Tripoli. He has his military charge in and beat and shoot people, he cuts off all communication for his people and disallows media to enter the country. Someone needs to take care of this fucking asshole – perhaps some wonderful hollow points headed in his direction rather than at protestors might give him some perspective. He has given new meaning to fucking nuts, and his people and countless others have suffered because of him. In his hour-long babblefest, he accused the protestors of being on drugs and working for the devil, he stated, in the third person, no less, that Moammar Gadhafi cannot step down because he is not a government leader but rather the leader of a revolution… funny how many times he can change his title, his form of government and his mind in a few seconds. He said he would not resort to violence, then called on the people of Libya who supported him to go and kill the protestors where they sleep, then screamed that he would fight to the death. I think someone should fucking accommodate him in that wish, and soon, because a future of incredible violence awaits masses of people as long as he is there. He is a war criminal, he has committed unspeakable crimes against humanity… and any other leader (this would be that other nucking fut-case Chavez) who aids or harbors him should face the same damned charges. Perhaps some pressure from the developed world (other than idiot-face lame ass Harper) could help to shut him down? Of course, with the oil they have there (they are the eighth largest producer in the world), no one wants to shit in that nest.

DATELINE: ON PARLIAMENT HILL HAVING ANOTHER ‘WHAT THE FUCK’ MOMENT – Last week we heard how Bev Oda had changes the entire meaning and content of a signed report with the addition of one word… ‘NOT’… after the fact, then using that document as the basis of a decision regarding funding. The people who had signed the report were not aware of the change to their text, did not sign or initial the change, were not consulted about the change. No matter how you look at it, she illegally altered legal, signed documents. That’s the bottom fucking line. (NOTE TO JACK LAYTON: She did not forge anything… she falsified, she altered, but she did not forge. If you want to make a legal fucking argument in a legislative chamber at least please get the word right). On Friday, the Harper government conceded that perhaps the decision and the subsequent cover-up were not ‘a work of art’. What the fuck is that?? Someone needs to do some major ass-kicking to that arrogant supercilious fucking government. Someone also needs to kick some opposition ass as well, because even though Parliament is not sitting… why the hell not take off the whole week when just the Monday is a fuckin holiday… they should be in the media taking this and the other issues with this government to task. They should be doing this every fucking day, not for an hour one week, then letting the issues go. Do your fucking job, people! What the fuck are you being paid for?

DATELINE: AIN’T THAT A KICK IN THE HEAD – Yesterday, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Peter Hourihan went to talk to Buddy Tavares. You remember Buddy Tavares, the guy who took an RCMP boot to the face while he was kneeling on the ground? You remember watching that nice video footage of Constable Geoff Mantler walking up to Tavares and letting fly with a kick that lifted Buddy right off the ground, that broke teeth and caused a concussion? Oh, and remember that they put Buddy in cells for the weekend on some bullshit trumped –up charges about domestic violence and careless use of a firearm? Yeah, the Crown Prosecutor announced yesterday that those charges would be stayed because of a lack of evidence. Now there is one hell of a shocking development.* The Assistant Commission took the opportunity to officially apologize to Buddy Tavares… well whoop-de-fucking-do! He did not mention compensation, and God knows that we have heard nothing about the charges that should and must be laid against Mantler. I have to say, I am so god damned fucking tired of politicians and police fucking the dog long enough that we lose track of the shit they don’t account for. We need to start holding these overpaid over-privileged assholes to account, and we have to start doing it now.




(*that was done in sarcastic font, in case you didn’t catch it*)

DAILY NEWS – JANUARY 18th, 2010

DAILY NEWS – JANUARY 18th, 2010

DATELINE: FOLLOWING THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD –Former US Vice President Dick Cheney said he would eventually have to consider a heart transplant. Transplant? Perhaps he should instead start singing and skipping down the road through munchkin land in search of the Wizard of Oz… Just because I'm presumin, 'That he could be a human, If he only had a heart.

DATELINE: AT WALMART, BUYING OUT ALL THEIR DUCT TAPE – Why? You might ask? Well, didn’t you hear Sarah Palin??? She will not be shut up. She said it herself. So, because she can’t help but either put her foot in her mouth or spew stupid from her mouth, it is time for a fucking duct tape intervention.

DATELINE: SPEAKING OF DUCT TAPE – It is long overdue to call some of these stupid fucking news anchors on the dumbass questions they ask. It’s bad enough that here in BC we have to suffer through the gallactically stupid morning desk jock, but on all stations, the dumb question has taken on epidemic proportions. This morning, as police officers from all over the country gather to bury one of their own, an incredibly somber situation and one deserving utmost respect, took the stupid to a new level. While interviewing an infield reporter who was standing in front of the police officers as they assembled, she asked ‘what is the mood there?’ Huh? What the fuck does she think the mood would be? It’s like asking someone who just watched a loved one killed ‘how do you feel?’ The absolutely fucking dumb up-yer-ass questions: yet another reason for people to tune out the news. Despite the stupidity, prayers go out to the family of Toronto Police Department Sergeant Ryan Russell, who was killed in the line of duty last week.

DATELINE: IN HAITI, MAKING A BAD SITUATION WORSE – Baby Doc Duvalier still has not revealed his reason for returning to Haiti, but it cannot be coincidental that he arrived as the country is dealing with a totally fucked up election process while the country is in dire need and total confusion. The fact that he is not behind bars is disconcerting, but not surprising. That other countries hide assholes like this instead of making them stand up and account for what they have done is appalling but apparently not going to change in our lifetime, because some countries just don’t have the fucking balls to stand up and do the right thing either, preferring instead for other countries to clean up the clusterfucks they create. As we sit here shaking our heads at the fact that anyone in Haiti could consider his return providential, we also have to bear in mind a couple of little details. The first is that the country is in total chaos, absolutely rudderless and feeling the effects of that in a very real way. Watching loved ones perish to disease and starvation, watching them be abused, raped, and bullied, knowing every damn day is the same struggle for even the most basic of life’s needs makes people reach for any lifeline. Another issue to take into consideration, especially considering the huge number of candidates running for President, is that they have no way to get papers, no way to know what all the candidates are about or what they are saying, because the flaps of their tents don’t come with electrical outlets so they can plug in the radios and televisions they don’t have. More to the point though, the vast majority of the people in Haiti were not even alive when Baby Doc and his Tonton Macoute were running the country 25 years ago.

DATELINE: HUNG BY THE HORSE -- Metaphorically speaking, of course. Stephanie Six (29) was standing outside a bar in Florida, waiting with some friends before they went home for the night, when police approached them and told them to get on their way. The cops weren’t overly polite in the request – nothing new there, these days -- but one of the cops was on a horse, and as horses tend to do, this one shifted a bit, pinning Stephanie against the wall. Stephanie, in response, reached out and touched the horse, and set off a shit storm of incredible proportions. She was arrested for ‘battery on a police horse’, put in jail for twelve hours, and has been accused of being an animal abuser. Now, I have been around a lot of horses, have pushed and slapped a number of them when they get their big asses bouncing around. They can be intimidating as hell to someone who is not used to them. This was Six’s first interaction with the police, heinous criminal that she is. Too bad her first one had to be so fucking deep in horse shit.

DATELINE: STARRING IN THE SOAP OPERA OF LIFE – Well, actually the soap is called Chepe Fortuna, a South American soap opera that has been taken off the air… because one of the characters has a dog named Little Hugo. The owner of the dog is named Venezuela and she has a sister called Columbia, and the two, just like the countries, have been known to have their spats. In the various storylines, Venezuela is "repeatedly characterized as associated with crime, interference and vulgarity" and this has caused that laugh-a-minute despot leader (not so little) Hugo Chavez to take issue with the show, and to demand its removal from the Venezuelan airwaves. It has me thinking that my little Poopsie, my pink tea-cup poodle Adolf, needs a brother, a pink yappy Chihuahua named Hugo. The dog, however, will probably have a sense of humor, something the politician is clearly in desperate fucking need of.

DATELINE: NOT HAVING SO MUCH FUN IN THE SUN – Rebecca Rutland (41) and her fiancé were spending New Years Eve In Playa Del Carmen a few weeks back. While there, shortly before midnight, the police wanted to search them, and when her fiancé stated his objection because they had been doing nothing wrong, the two were taken into custody, then the nightmare began. Rutland was tossed in a cell, had her jewelry and money stolen by the police officers, was subjected to a vicious search that ended in her being forced to perform oral sex on the officer searching her, and then was repeatedly raped by several members of the police force. For 18 hours, she was held in custody, raped, abused, despite the fact that a supervisor walked in, watched, then left without doing anything. When she was released from custody, she required hospitalization for broken ribs and bite marks that had already become infected. She was bruised and battered, and yet Mexican authorities deny that anything happened at all. Even if the couple were the most wild partiers in the world, there is nothing that justifies this behavior by police, and based on their reactions and statements, one has to assume the police are more than practiced at lying their way through this. The holes in the story offered by police are big enough for me to drive my rig through, and the audacity and arrogance their lies show are staggering. It is time for people to hold Mexican authorities to account, or for Canadians to take a much harder stance about tourism there, because the reported incidents of this nature are far too common. If it is this bad for tourists going there, how the hell terrible is it for the people who live in that mess? Mexico is now definitely off my list of places I have any interest in visiting.

DATELINE: INTRODUCING POT TO KETTLE – This weekend, Abbotsford Police recommended that charges be laid against Kelowna RCMP Constable Geoff Mantler in the incident of Mantler kicking a compliant man in the face. Abbotsford Police were given the task of doing the official criminal investigation into the incident. But then, what do we see on the news the next day? A video of Abbotsford Police involved in ‘questioning’ two men about a possible drug deal. In the video, both suspects are cooperative, instantly lie down on the ground and put their hands behind their heads. But that’s not good enough. The cop, with his sidearm trained on the one suspect, starts to kick the man, steps on his head, kicks him in the head, while his partner walks over the back of the man’s legs… while he is laying on the pavement. Yes, these are the men to investigate a kicking incident in Kelowna. What the fuck is wrong with the police now? Why are they on such a fucking powetrip, enforcing laws that clearly do not need to be applied to themselves? I have known many, have worked with many, and remember the days when police were trained to defuse a situation rather than instigate, when police respected that a person was innocent until proven guilty, and was not in need of having boots put to them for no reason at all. For the sake of all the good cops out there, and there are some, it is about time the bad ones were reined in and held to account, because the trust and respect will only continue to erode the longer this goes on.

DAILY NEWS – January 11th, 2011

DAILY NEWS – January 11th, 2011

DATELINE: WITH RCMP SUPERVISORS, SITTING IN DOCTOR SPIN’S WAITING ROOM – Last night, the victim of that brutal police assault in Kelowna was finally released from custody – probably very lucky that he was not #268 in the in-custody death count at the hands of the RCMP in British Columbia (compared to Ontario’s rate of 106 in the same time period despite the considerably higher population). The police have now cooked up some cock-and-bull piece of shit fucking story about a domestic assault that involved the careless use of a firearm, but the family, the ex-wife, the friend – no one – has a clue what this would be about. I suspect, as has been the case with absolutely every other incident of someone being assaulted or killed by police here in the last few years, the RCMP will start on a vigorous tar-and-feather campaign to make their victim appear in the worst possible light, making up the shit as they go along. It’s apparently much easier, as a cop, to make up shit to cover their own pathetic fucking asses, than it is to just stand there and say ‘we fucked up’. If ANYONE else had done what Constable Geoff Mantler, our phantom shit-kicker cop, did last week, they would find themselves behind bars, instantly charged with assault causing bodily harm. If anyone else in any other profession did that on the job, they would be canned instantly. Not here however, with our police – Constable Mantler is on holidays now, on our fucking dime. He has been, as per RCMP policy, suspended with pay. As a rather interesting aside, as of September 2010 there were 16 RCMP Officers suspended with pay for their atrocious behavior, some of them since 2007 as they continually appeal and abuse the system, to the tune of $1.3M each year… yes, that is what we pay for suspended cops each year in this province alone. That is one hell of a fucking gig if you can get it. So much for Dudley DoRight. Enter Dudley DidRight.

DATELINE: SHAKING MY HEAD IN-CREDULOUS: Wow. Just fucking wow. Amid the written ravings of a greatly disturbed young gunman are many political, government and conspiracy references, so what is the response of the politicians and pundits? Why, they have chosen to play the fucking victim, of course. What the fuck is the matter with you assholes? “The desperate hope that the losers in November of 2010 had was that they could revitalize their political fortunes because of this unfortunate shooting of a congresswoman in Arizona,” from Rush Limbaugh, along with THIS gem - “But the left is depraved, empty and without any political substance whatsoever.” We have Glen Beck spewing this crap – “They are using every opportunity to convince you that Sarah Palin is dangerous.” The Tea party states it will ‘not be silenced after the shooting” and Paul Krugman came out with this bit of fucking wisdom “So will the Arizona massacre make our discourse less toxic? It’s really up to G.O.P. leaders. Will they accept the reality of what’s happening to America, and take a stand against eliminationist rhetoric? Or will they try to dismiss the massacre as the mere act of a deranged individual, and go on as before?” We have heard about ‘Second Amendment remedies”, have been told to “Gather our Armies”, and the bullshit continues. My favorite – that crap spewing about how the conservatism will be criminalized and media voices will be silenced. No, you dumb fucks! That is NOT what anyone is saying, asking for or expecting. Why is the thought of reasonable discussion and responsible reporting so had for you all to grasp? Is Fox News guilty for what happened in Arizona this weekend? No, nor is Glen Beck, Sarah Palin, Paul Krugman or any other politician or pundit BUT they are definitely a raving ranting symptom of a disease that is killing democracy. There is a drastic need to change politics, and there are more than enough politicians who recognize that need, but their voices can’t be heard over the shouting of the idiots… yes, idiots… those who embrace democracy as long as it is exactly as THEY want it because all the rest of the people out there have no right to have a say in democracy, policies, procedures or anything else. The day of the selfish politics, the self-serving bullshit shouting about how ‘there is only one way --- my way’ have to come to end… while we still have democracy that is worth protecting and defending.

DATELINE: ON A ROOF, PRAYING FOR NOAH – For too long, the people of Australia have dealt with truly catastrophic flooding, watching their homes disappear as the situation worsens each day. Now on its way to devastate Brisbane, homes have been ripped off their foundations, with people in them, as the water smashes into town. 20 people are now confirmed dead in the raging waters, 78 are missing. Watching from the other side of the continent, it is truly incomprehensible what those people must be feeling, and the sense of helplessness has to be overwhelming. I cannot imagine sitting in my home, knowing there is nowhere to go to escape, waiting to see if I will be one of the lucky ones or not. It is a grim reminder that we might like to control everything, to deal with everything, when it comes to Mother Nature and the weather, but we are humbled. Please remember and pray for the people of Australia

DAILY NEWS – JANUARY 10th, 2011

DAILY NEWS – JANUARY 10th, 2011

DATELINE: THE STATE OF NOT-SO-MUCH BROTHERLY LOVE – To be honest, it’s probably not fair to pick on just one State, but as an observer from outside the country, I have to ask ‘What the fuck is wrong with you??’ That question, however, is not directed at ‘the people’; it is for many (not all) politicians and the media, and it applies to the whole damned continent as the trend is embraced more every day up here in Canada. A woman, fulfilling what she truly believed was the altruistic role of serving the people, was shot in the head this weekend. Congresswoman Giffords was simply giving her electorate the opportunity to talk to her, and THAT was enough to cause the death of 6 people, the shooting of 13 others, and if the gunman had the opportunity, how many more? While horrific and unbelievable, perhaps it was just a matter of time before this had to happen somewhere – not necessarily in Arizona (and I am certainly not advocating it SHOULD have happened to anyone) but somewhere. Just turn on the damned television, listen to the bullshit being spewed every day by politicians screaming about what people should be afraid of and who they should blame for what is going wrong in their lives, or what might go wrong tomorrow? How many times have you heard a politician actually discussing a real plan to make things better? They argue and spew crap simply for the sake of being heard and the media gladly offers the platform on which they can do this shit. In North America, we are truly blessed with elected governments that are for the most part, for better or worse, honestly the result of the voting electorate’s decision. There is no politician in the world who can make decisions that please everyone all the time, there will always be people who disagree with the decisions made, and there are some self-serving corrupt politicians in the works, BUT we have the mechanism in place to deal with that… with a fucking ballot. If you don’t vote, then shut the fuck up and just live with what you have. If you don’t like the candidates you have to choose from, get off your ass and find someone you believe will be suitable. It’s about time we take responsibility for the clusterfuck we have created in both countries where politics are concerned. We are too damned self-centered, we are too protectionist about the ‘MY’ – My life, My home, My Town, My City, My State, My Country – and to hell with all the rest. We have not held politicians to account and we have let them spew hateful, over-the-top Palin-esque bullshit on a daily basis, and as a result a woman doing what she was elected to do in order to help create some peace within her constituency was shot in the head… along with eighteen innocent bystanders. Not to be overlooked, though, when the hell did it become alright for the media to have a political agenda? The media is there to inform the public in a non-partisan way. They are to keep their political opinions to themselves – they are free to have them, and to use editorial pages to emphasize the issues of a topic, but how is it acceptable that they actively advocate for one party or the other? How can we have television stations totally devoted to one party or the other and shamelessly voice vitriolic crap to discredit the other. How the hell can people watching NOT get fucked up with that? When a position is determined politically prior to even writing the news, it is no longer fucking news – it is propaganda. It cannot have credibility because it is not balanced. It does not allow the people to make up their own minds about what is happening. How the fuck did we let the media become so all-powerful in the running of our countries or setting political agendas for us? When did the theatrics of some politicians dressing in camouflage and taking a gun to ‘shoot’ down a governmental policy, or a politician using a website to position gun sites on opponents constituency offices, and telling her ‘fans’ to reload and not to retreat become morally or ethically acceptable? How can we really believe that this bullshit does NOT impact people, especially those down on their luck, the frustrated, the tired, or those who are confused or off-balance? Am I making excuses for the sick fuck who opened up fire in Arizona on the weekend? Hell no! Not for one minute. Am I suggesting that perhaps we need to seriously sit back and look at what the fuck we have become with the quest for power, the attitude of ‘my needs and ‘rights’ over everyone else’s ‘ and twenty-four-hour news cycles that have no choice but to fill the air with so much rehashing and twisting and agenda-dictated reporting? You are god damned right I am. Today when you turn on the news or download your newspaper, please take a minute to think about Christina Taylor-Green (9), John Roll, Gabe Zimmerman (30), Dorwin Stoddard (76), Dorothy Morris (76) and Phyllis Scheck (79), the 13 other people injured, and their friends and families. What a truly sad fucking day for a country that embraces, and in fact sends soldiers to die, in order to protect and promote democracy.

DATELINE: AND IN THIS CORNER – This weekend we were AGAIN offered an example of police brutality and total fucking incompetence. Thank you, Constable Geoff Mantler of the RCMP for giving us yet another reason to not trust you as a force, not respect you as a force, and not want you as a force here in beautiful fucking BC. Perhaps the RCMP should start teaching a course in Depot on learning to not do this shit where people are standing with cell phones and cameras? Or maybe we could look at a law that prevents us from having those things, so you can continue to run amok, refusing to attend break-ins, thefts, highway accidents (unless there is a death), burglar alarms or so many other things we are ridiculously under the impression you are paid to fucking do. Instead, you taser, beat, kick, abuse and shoot the people you have to deal with, and the statistics are staggering. Caught clearly on video this Friday in Kelowna, Constable Geoff Mantler was involved with pulling over pulled over a man as the result of a firearms complaint. Now, I can understand the need for caution, BUT the suspect, moving slowly, hands up and empty, knelt on the ground as he prepared to lie face down on the pavement. Mantler, however, felt the need to walk up to him as he was already on his knees, lowing himself, and applied one hell of a kick to the man’s face. For what?? He was doing what he was told. Ohhhhh, wait… its’ because the cops can. They can do anything here. They are powerful, and we better not fucking forget it. As it turns out, the suspect was involved in an accident last year and suffered a broken back and head injuries, so yeah, he might move slow. He has a permit for his gun, that he was using it at the golf course where he works, where his job is to shoot blanks to scare away the geese, which he was doing. So far, he has not broken any fucking laws, but let’s beat the crap out of him—because we can. In the same video footage, caught by a local member of the media, it is clear when they get the gun from the vehicle that it has the guard on it, that it is totally locked up and no threat. The even bigger crime in this, though, is the man has been held in custody all fucking weekend, and will appear in court this morning on their fucking trumped up firearms charges of careless use of a firearm – a charge which, if convicted summarily, which would be their ONLY option if they were stupid enough to actually proceed with this bullshit, carries a maximum penalty of two months incarceration OR a $5000 fine, certainly NOT an offence to keep him in custody all fucking weekend. The time has come…. as we go through the HUGE list of police abuses and misconduct in this province, for us to stand up and tell our politicians that we want a real fucking police force here, one that will work with the public and respect the public and our right to due process, and not a fucking bunch of chicken-shit playground bullies and thugs.