Michael Jackson - Thriller

Ok now I am not that much of a Michael Jackson fan, but I have to admit they did a great job on this video. The dancing/music starts at around 4:15. I though it was appropriate for the start of the Halloween. Have a happy, fun and safe trick or treat. Make sure you buy and enjoy fireworks, drive the nanny state nuts! I plan on taxing my kids candy haul!!!

My wife does a excellent imitation of Vincent Price thriller voice, should I be worried?

Epic failures of the gun Registry

The purpose of this blog is to track failures of the gun registry. Stories submitted must have happen to you personally or directly from someone you know. No “I heard from my uncles friends buddies” stories. We want to stay as factual as we can be within the restraints that we are working under.
I will submit my story first;
Waited till the last minute to register my .22cal rifle and .303 Enfield, both of which I had owned since I was 18 with no issue. Sent the papers by registered mail and got the receipt back. 2 years later I get a letter from the Canadian Firearms Centre (CFC) stating: “Due to missing information my file can not be completed and that if I don’t respond my file will be closed and I would be a criminal”. (not exact wording but close enough)
Phoned up the CFC to ask what information was missing, they replied……..
“We need your mailing address”
So I asked: “If you didn’t have that, how could you have sent me a letter?” Very long pause……..”Thank you we will complete your file now”

This is a true story on how I avoided being a criminal (so far)

More here at: Epic failures

Pictures from around the world

Saving a Humpback whale stranded on the coast of Brazil



A villager stands in front of Mount Merapi, near his motorcycle covered by ash at Kaliadem village in Sleman, near the ancient city of Yogyakarta, October 27th



A Brazilian crosses the muddy bottom of the Rio Negro, a major tributary to the Amazon river, in the city of Manaus, October 26, 2010. A severe drought has pushed river levels in Brazil's Amazon region to record lows, leaving isolated communities dependent on emergency aid and thousands of boats stranded on parched riverbeds.

I have traveled on the Rio Negro, a main tributary of the Amazon by dug out from Rio Coco in Ecuador, amazing river, sad to see it this dry.

Photo's courtesy of Reuters

Canada’s most dangerous cities: Robbery

Canada’s most dangerous cities: Robbery
October 14, 2010

The Canadian rate is 96 robberies per 100,000 population, with robberies including anything from bank hold-ups to purse snatchings.



RANK CITIES PERCENTAGE DIFFERENCE WITH THE NATIONAL RATE
1 Winnipeg, Man. 249.03%
2 Saskatoon, Sask. 151.80
3 Regina, Sask. 144.16
4 Montréal, Que. 130.03
5 Victoria, B.C. 115.49
6 Vancouver, B.C. 112.14
7 Edmonton, Alta. 112.03
8 Burnaby, B.C. 109.42
9 Surrey, B.C. 106.90
10 Toronto, Ont. 103.35
11 New Westminster, B.C. 83.57
12 Thunder Bay, Ont. 38.98
13 Hamilton, Ont. 35.53
14 Maple Ridge, B.C. 33.54
15 Kelowna, B.C. 30.30
16 Chilliwack, B.C. 29.04
17 Coquitlam, B.C. 28.52
18 Calgary, Alta. 28.41
19 Peel Region (Mississauga/Brampton), Ont. 25.69
20 Prince George, B.C. 25.69
21 Halifax Region, N.S. 24.85
22 Laval, Que. 23.39
23 Nanaimo, B.C. 21.50
24 Port Coquitlam, B.C. 20.04
25 Ottawa, Ont. 18.78
26 Abbotsford, B.C. 17.11
27 Windsor, Ont. 14.91
28 Saint John, N.B. 13.66
29 Lethbridge, Alta. 11.88
30 North Vancouver, B.C. 11.56
31 Longueuil, Que. 10.62
32 Red Deer, Alta. 9.89
33 London, Ont. 7.27
34 Durham Region (Oshawa/Whitby/Ajax), Ont. 3.19
35 Langley Township, B.C. 0.68
36 Sudbury, Ont. 0.26
37 Delta, B.C. -8.53
38 Peterborough, Ont. -9.26
39 N. Vancouver District, B.C. -11.57
40 Kamloops, B.C. -11.67
41 Grande Prairie, Alta. -17.53
42 Fort McMurray, Alta. -18.16
43 Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. -19.31
44 Gatineau, Que. -27.68
45 Thérèse-De-Blainville, Qc. -29.36
46 St. Catharines, Ont. -31.03
47 Saint-Jérôme, Que. -33.54
48 Brantford, Ont. -34.07
49 St-Eustache, Que. -34.17
50 Cornwall, Ont. -35.43
51 Québec, Que. -35.85
52 Belleville, Ont. -36.06
53 Terrebonne, Que. -37.31
54 Richmond, B.C. -38.25
55 Barrie, Ont. -39.93
56 Kingston, Ont. -41.71
57 Moncton, N.B. -42.13
58 Kitchener, Ont. -44.01
59 Châteauguay, Que. -44.53
60 York Region (Markham/Vaughn), Ont. -47.36
61 Sarnia, Ont. -47.99
62 Guelph, Ont. -48.09
63 Fredericton, N.B. -48.40
64 St. John’s, Nfld. -51.44
65 Granby, Que. -51.54
66 Salaberry-De-Valleyfield, Que. -51.54
67 Medicine Hat, Alta. -52.17
68 Joliette, Que. -53.85
69 St.Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que. -54.06
70 Sherbrooke, Que. -55.00
71 North Bay, Ont. -55.42
72 Trois-Rivières, Que. -55.52
73 Chatham-Kent, Ont. -58.03
74 Drummondville, Que. -61.07
75 Roussillon, Que. -61.28
76 Repentigny, Que. -61.59
77 Sorel-Tracy, Que. -62.53
78 Saanich, B.C. -65.36
79 West Vancouver, B.C. -67.87
80 Blainville, Que. -69.44
81 Maskoutains, Que. -69.55
82 St. Albert, Alta. -70.49
83 Sherwood Park, Alta. -71.32
84 Richelieu Saint-Laurent, Que. -73.10
85 Oakville, Ont. -73.84
86 Shawinigan, Que. -73.94
87 Saguenay, Que. -74.78
88 Rimouski, Que. -76.77
89 Victoriaville, Que. -78.55
90 Nottawasaga, Ont. -79.17
91 Cape Breton, N.S. -80.53
92 Vaudreuil-Soulange, Que. -81.06
93 Lévis, Que. -82.31
94 Innisfil, Ont. -84.09
95 Brome-Missisquoi, Que. -86.71
96 Mirabel, Que. -87.34
97 Norfolk, Ont. (Opp) -90.27
98 Caledon, Ont. -95.08
99 Wellington County, Ont. -96.55
100 Alma, Que. -98.01

Thank you to Rangebob of Canadacarry and http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/10/14/robbery/

Swedish honour guard

Via Castle Arrghhh!

Bravo to the guard who made the kid's day.
As a kid I went to Sweden in the 70’s via Finland and Russia (that’s another story) I remember being in awe of these soldiers from the Royal Guard and have a picture of me standing besides one somewhere in my closet. The rifle is the Swedish Mauser, a popular rifle here for hunting.

UpdateThank you to BC guy from CGN for reminding me of this video

Ashes to Ashes

Bye Laura, I will always love you for being such a great big sister to me.

A while back we scattered the remains of my sister into the waters of Howe Sound near an Island that she loved, she was a well known lawyer and activist who was diagnosed with a brain tumour June of last year, she passed in December of 2009, leaving behind her significant other, her 13year son and us.

I was going to post this earlier, but couldn’t. 2 years previous to her diagnose she had seizures which sent her to hospital, we blamed it on stress and overwork (common lawyer stuff), perhaps had a MRI been done then the tumour might have been caught before it spread. If you or your loved ones have unexplained seizures or something odd happening in your/their head, do yourself and your family a favour and get an MRI, if the system tells you to wait a year, consider that you can fly to Malaysia, get an MRI, enjoy yourself, consult some very good doctors and come home for less than the price of a MRI here in Vancouver, where you are unlike to be able to see a doctor to review your results in a timely manner.
Laura was a great big sister and fabulous Aunt, my oldest misses her a lot, I have no doubt my sister is now an angel and comes in and gives my baby a kiss on the cheek now and then. As much as fought and disagreed, I knew I could always count on her to be there. A big hug to wherever you are.

Love, your Brother

Never a Liberal ballsack around...

Never a Liberal ballsack around...

...when you really need one...

Something odd is going on with Michael Ignatieff and China. It’s more than two weeks since dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel peace prize while residing in a Chinese jail cell. If Mr. Ignatieff has had anything to say about it, he’s keeping it well hidden.

Read more

Gordo, busy shuffling the deckchairs

Cartoon courtesy of the Vancouver Sun

Gordo, for you international visitors is the Premier of our Province, an area larger than many countries. His current approval rating is somewhere around 9% courtesy of his own self inflicted wounds, the latest being the HST tax. Not to mention that little deal for BC Rail either. His answer to this minor problem of being absolutely despised is to shuffle his ministers around and to make a public announcement. I wonder if you can get a minus public approval rating? This is despite our Province doing better than the rest of the country and fairly successful winter Olympics. I can imagine his ministers sitting in Cabinet comparing him to Nero?
I have always despised Gordon Campbell, I saw his style when he was Mayor, it sucked back then and it sucks now. The worst part of this sorry tale is that the opposition is not much better, the NDP have stumbled along under the lackluster leadership of Carole James and frankly I have to say she is the only one that can save Campbell, just as he is the only one that could possible get her elected. I wish we had a Shakespeare to write a play about this farce, I wonder what he would call it?
Meanwhile reluctant voters will trudge to the polls with the option of jumping from a cesspool into pool full of nuts. Thankfully I have a Conservative running in my area, otherwise I might have to vote for the resident Marxist-Leninist who normally gets 5 votes (no doubt one from Mom) I miss the Rhino party at least they were honest about not wanting to do anything constructive, other than changing driving from the right to the left, gradually buses and trucks the first year and the cars that survive the next year!

BILL C-580: Fixing the gun registry, or fixing gun owners?

Courtesy of the Don’t tread on me blog and the CSSA
BILL C-580: Fixing the gun registry, or fixing gun owners?
Bill C-580 was tabled on October 8, 2010 as a private members bill by NDP M.P. Charlie Angus to address potential fixes to the long gun registry. Its stated purpose was to “respect the concerns of rural Canadians while enhancing public safety.” It does not accomplish either purpose.

Let’s examine the goals in detail, along with other aspects of C-580 that the NDP have chosen not to publicize.

Providing a first-time exemption from criminal penalty for not registering a long-gun:
C-580 provides this exemption for “first time offenders” only if charged under Section 112 of the Firearms Act, a little used section that can already result in a fine for the offense of possession of a non-restricted firearm without a registration certificate. The usual charge laid by police is a Section 91 offense under the Criminal Code. Bill C-580 does NOT address Section 91 offenses.


Mandating the Auditor General to provide financial oversight of the registry:
Auditor General Sheila Fraser stated to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security in May 2010 that she could not possibly conduct any financial audit for the next three years due to prior commitments. It is only a good idea if it is tied to a cost/benefit analysis. The Auditor General is not mandated to perform a cost/benefit analysis.


Protecting the privacy of gun owners’ identifying information:
C-580 permits any records of any individual to be released to any person, inside or outside Canada, “in the interests of public safety.” Bye, bye privacy. This maintains the shopping list for criminals.


Creating a legal guarantee to uphold Aboriginal treaty rights:
While C-580 states an offense under any of sections 90, 91, 93, 97, 101, 104 and 105 may have the effect of abrogating or derogating from any existing aboriginal or treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 may not be proceeded with, it places the onus upon the Defendant to prove his or her treaty rights were violated. This process will cost the Defendant tens of thousands of dollars to prove a violation. A decision favourable to the Defendant would almost certainly be appealed by the Crown. In net effect, there is little difference over what currently exists.


Establishing permanently free registration
Not quite. C-580 only eliminates the fees for Non-Restricted firearms. Owners of restricted and prohibited firearms will still be subject to an, as yet, undefined fee. This serves to create a two-tier system. Given the rest of the provisions in this bill one can assume this is deliberate. The fees for registering any firearm were eliminated in 2003 and registration has remained free since. These provisions in C-580 are a step backward, not forward. And remember, the Canadian taxpayer will end up stuck with the tab. Nothing is free.


Allowing military and police to share important information with the Canadian Firearms Program, including mental health concerns
This section should read “Requiring military and police…” It requires that Canadian military and police personnel must disclose whether they have ever served with the Canadian Forces or have ever served as a police officer. In doing so, all their service records become open to the Chief Firearms Officer without their consent. It is appalling that someone who has served Canada with honour should be subject to “criminal suspicion” because of their former occupation. This is precisely the issue that ordinary Canadians have bitterly complained about for so long. If, as C-580 implies, these individuals present a risk by virtue of their service to our country, perhaps we should be examining whether they should be given firearms in the first place? This section is offensive to those who serve and certainly does not indicate any “fix” of the long gun registry. On behalf of all gun owners, we are ashamed this made it to First Reading.


The following sections are not publicized in the NDP releases.

Ripping off widows and families
(2) Paragraph 112(2)(b) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(b) a person who comes into possession of a firearm by operation of law and who, within 90 days or such longer period as may be granted by a chief firearms officer under subsection (2.1), lawfully disposes of it or obtains a registration certificate for it; or


This is the section of the Firearm Act that pertains to firearms placed in the possession of an Executor for the purposes of lawful distribution under the Inheritance Act. Currently, the sentence states the person has a “reasonable time” to fulfill their obligations under the two Acts. This current wording is appropriate. Larger collections may be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and require months (or years) to sell at fair market prices. Bill C-580 removes that option from an executor of an estate, forcing very valuable firearms to be sold off at bargain basement prices within a 90-day period. Literally, this section rips off widows and families by forcing the sale of valuable estate property. This grossly unfair.

Bill C-580 does allow for the extension of the 90-day period by permitting a single 90-day extension. In order to obtain that extension however, the widow must go, hat in hand, to the Chief Firearms Officer and be granted permission to extend. Simply put, another basic right subject to an arbitrary decision made by an appointed bureaucrat.

Gun bans – fasten your seat belt!
4. Section 117.15 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):

(3) The Governor in Council may make regulations requiring a manufacturer or importer to provide information for the purpose of establishing that the thing in question is reasonable for use in Canada for hunting or sporting purposes.


This section is a Canadianized version of the infamous British “Sporting use test” where all firearms are subject to bureaucratic interpretation as to what justifies a hunting or sporting firearm. This has been used to prohibit most of the firearms in Great Britain. It places enormous power in the hands of the bureaucracy to ban firearms. It is obvious that this is the intent of this section. Charlie Angus spoke of “closing the loopholes” in order to prohibit the popular Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle, a common sporting and hunting firearm used by tens of thousands of Canadians. As the Mini-14 is no different than many other hunting rifles, this would be the start of wholesale confiscation.

Summary
It is very clear that this legislation does little or nothing to address the problems inherent with the long-gun registry of the Firearms Act. It is “smoke and mirrors” legislation which will certainly lead to further prohibitions of firearms, increased bureaucratic authority and more regulatory hoops firearms owners will have to jump through. Bill C-580 proves Canadian firearms owners cannot turn to the NDP party for relief from this oppressive legislation. Whether intentional or not, C-580 is proof positive: They just don’t get it.


The CSSA believes all responsible firearms owners should strive to ensure Bill C-580 never sees the light of day.

You shall conform!!!!!

This Candid camera episode is a perfect example of social pressure to conform. Words are not spoken, just the actions forces people to conform even if there is no logical reasoning behind it. We are social animals and being part of a group is important to us. That innate desire is used by people to attempt to force you to conform to their ideas, another name for this is “Social engineering”. Having married a wonderful lady from Malaysia, we both get to see how much our culture influences us and causes us to thing in “norms” which are only normal for us and not others. Never underestimate how much your culture controls you with a unseen hand!
As a gun owner I have watched this social engineering take place. Shooting and gun ownership in Canada has gone from a everyday well respected institution to social outcast. Shooters are afraid to promote their sport for fear of be ridiculed or becoming an outcast. It’s all part of a plan, envisioned by people like Allan Rock and company. They have worked hard to convince people that gun ownership in Canada is a foreign influence from the “Evil US” and therefore Canadians that own firearms and shoot are therefore not “True Canadians” and have their rights constrained and their property confiscated. Sounds Orwellian does it not?
Oddly enough I also see the same thing happening in Malaysia. The Imams there are claiming that traditional Malay dances that long predate the arrival of Islam on it’s shores are part of a “evil foreign influence” trying to corrupt good Muslim. The irony of their statement is totally lost on them, just as the irony of what the Gun Control types do to alter Canadian history to fit their future.
On a lighter note Candid camera was a fabulous show that really understood what made people tick, one of my favorites was the pretty girl with the broken down car, getting help from passing strangers, who would ask her to pop the hood, whereupon they would discover there was no engine, yet the girl was insisting she had just been driving it! The look on peoples faces as they tried to reconcile the two conflicting piece of information was great