Crackdown on Crime?

Today I received a ‘leaflet’ in the mail from my local MP, James Moore regarding which political party is on the right track when it comes to crime in this country. The main point of the leaflet is “Age Is No Excuse.” That just because an offender of a crime is a youth, they should be treated no less than an adult (depending on the severity of the crime… of course.) The point of this leaflet was to choose a political party member who you thought was “on the right track” at combating crime. I was seriously baffled at the notion of having to decide which political party leader was ‘on the right track’….. but here were the options…..

• Stephane Dion
• Stephen Harper
• Jack Layton
• Elizabeth May

I personally wondered where the “NONE OF THE ABOVE” check box was and quickly realized that there was not one and decided to write Mr. James Moore a letter, letting him in on my view of the Criminal Justice System in this country. The following was sent to his office….

July 25, 2008

Re: “Above the Law” leaflet

To James Moore, MP

Your office recently mailed out a leaflet entitled “Above the Law” asking the citizens of Port Moody, Westwood and Port Coquitlam a question regarding the Criminal Justice System in this country. Your leaflet asked “Who do you think is on the right track on crime?” Well, Mr. Moore, my answer would have to be none of the above. The criminal Justice System in this country is a complete joke. Not only for the light sentences of youth AND adult offenders but for failing the victims of crime as well.

First of all we have our Attorney General, Wally Oppal who seems to come up with excuse after excuse regarding the way that criminals in this country are sentenced. I have contacted him on several occasions regarding the dragging death of Grant De Patie and the reduced sentence of youth offender Darnel Pratt. Now we find out that Mr. Pratt seems to be in some more trouble after assaulting another inmate while incarcerated. The reduction of his sentence now in hind sight seems rather wrong, don’t you think?

I also contacted Mr. Oppal in regards to the Oak Bay murder / suicide involving Mr. Peter Lee. Mr. Lee had assaulted his wife prior to the murders and was arrested for causing bodily harm and aggravated assault. Police made recommendations to the court that he remain in custody. Instead Mr. Lee was released on bail with numerous court orders not to contact his wife, enter the home, or posses any weapons. But did that protect Ms. Park and her family? No. Now every politician, judge and police officer in this country should carry that family’s blood on their hands for not ensuring their safety and for not making the laws around sentencing these offenders more strict.

And lastly ( I could go on, but I will not take up any more of your time) I would like to mention Mayor Scott Young. I am a resident of Port Coquitlam. I grew up in this town and have lived here for the majority of my life. I am also a victim of domestic violence and assault. I do not appreciate the fact that the Mayor of my hometown has been charged and convicted of assault and continues to remain Mayor of this city. I do not appreciate his pompous attitude regarding the matter either. That right there shows you just how screwed up this system is.

I was beaten by my now ex-boyfriend. He gave me two black eyes, choked me, held me against my will for over an hour while confining me and threatening to kill me. After fleeing the scene he was found by police, appeared before a judge and was released on bail with numerous court orders not to contact myself or my family. While awaiting trial he breached those conditions on numerous occasions to the point where I had to have my phone number changed. Each time he breached those conditions I called the RCMP officer in charge of my file to inform him of what was going on and every time I would have to leave a voicemail because he was never available to speak to me in person. By the time the date of the trial came my ex decided to play it safe and accept a plea bargain. He pled guilty and in return the crown sentenced him to a few days in jail. At that time my ex had an extremely lengthy criminal record. He is a career criminal. His mother has informed me that to this day he is still in and out of jail on a regular basis. And you want to know why this is? Because every single time he commits a crime in this country all he gets is a slap on the wrist, released on bail, court conditions that he can breach because he knows he can get away with it, and a minor sentence EVERY SINGLE TIME. And now I have a Mayor that is convicted of assault and I am expected to take him seriously? Please!

There is a lot that needs to be done about the Criminal Justice System in this country Mr. Moore regardless of the offenders age and I believe those changes can not come soon enough. All the offenders mentioned above, regardless if they are a youth offender or an adult seem to think that they are “Above the Law.” As for if any of the candidates mentioned on your leaflet are on the right track against crime in this country? I guess only time will tell.

I thank you for your time.

Thats my take on the system…….

Only In America?

Why does this not surprise me?

A ten month old baby now has a firearm ownership identification card and a big old gun to go along with it. And the parents and grand parents think it’s “cute.”  What the fuck is this world coming to?

The Little Things….

The little things that drive me crazy…

First of all…. my Ipod headphones… how the hell do they get so tangled?

People trying to find parking at the gym. Must you “stalk” people just to get a close spot… come on people we are going to the gym for heavens sake. Having to walk a little further from your car to the gym is not going to kill you.

I have said this before, and I will have to say it again…. wipe down the fucking machines after you have finished using them. The other day there was this girl at the gym (who had a nice physique & was quite attractive) using two different machines and failed to wipe both of them down… sorry honey but that’s just nasty.

Tractor trailer’s who insist on driving in the fast lane. Is there not a law that they must stay to the right unless they are passing someone?

And finally (well for now at least.. ha ha) people who do not stop for pedestrians at a crosswalk. Yesterday I was walking with my 7 week old son in his stroller and had to wait at a marked crosswalk while six cars drove past us and no one even slowed down.. let alone even thought of stopping for us. Then when we did finally get to cross, along comes a mini van with some asshole driving it who decides that because I have made it to the middle of the crosswalk he doesn’t have to slow down at all or stop. I gave him a little unfriendly wave… just to say “hey thanks for slowing down” and he simply waved back at me and kept driving at the same speed. Pretty shameful…. especially when just two days ago a four year old boy was hit while walking with his mother in a marked crosswalk only a few blocks away from where we were crossing. Sadly the little boy is still in the hospital listed under critical condition.

Cutest Canucks Fan?

This has currently got to be the most adorable Canucks fan ever….and she is only two years old….

Poison Blow Dart…

For months I have longed to play the role of a sniper with a bee bee gun aimed out the bedroom window at my trashy neighbour who insists on causing a ruckus during the wee hours of the morning on a consistent basis….. weekday and weekend. A little pellet in the ass might be just the thing he needs to make him realize that while he is noisily loading his tools, ladder, and other crap into his piece of shit truck (things that I assume he needs for work everyday) that there are actually people that are still sleeping at 6:30 in the morning.

I know… I know theft is a rising problem, this probably the reason for him not leaving the tools in his truck overnight…. but some people have come up with some nifty ideas over the years to protect ones belongings…. things like locks, alarms and adequate insurance coverage.

At the mention of my sniper like intentions to one of my bf’s friends… the idea of a poison blow dart came up. You know the kind used by a tribesman in the jungle with some sort of bamboo shoot as the barrel and having to blow through one end to launch the dart? It wouldn’t necessarily have to contain poison… maybe some sort of sleep aide that would knock the bastard out for a awhile, until the rest of us catch up on some sleep that he has caused us to loose.

{F.Y.I… just in case anyone actually takes me seriously on this….. I was in no way planning on hurting my neighbour…. just a little humor. But he is annoying as hell!!}

Fork you…

Is it just me or is there a shortage of forks in Vancouver?

When you go out for dinner to a restaurant…. I think you should at the very least be able to expect to have a fork, not to mention good service, good tasting food…and enjoyable night… but atleast a fucking fork and napkin. We went out for dinner last night and food was served at our table before any cutlery or napkins were set. I figured the server had realized this and was one her way to going to get us some… but after a few minutes of seeing her doing other things…. it was pretty apparent that she was not. Finally, once she was in the vicinity of our table I asked her if we could atleast have some napkins. We were eating a bread (with our fingers… I might add [due to the no cutlery issue]) that had a balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing on it…. it would kinda help to have some napkins! When she came back with the cutlery and napkins she said “sorry” and mentioned that they were “out” of clean cutlery when we had arrived. HUH? Out of clean cutlery? This is a restaurant… where people come to eat… you would think that there would be enough cutlery to compensate for the ones that are being washed. This is not the first time that this has happened to me either. There is another restaurant that we frequent often that on 2 occasions has also told me that there was no cutlery available at the time. What the hell is up with that? Service is sevice.. sometimes it’s bad, sometimes it’s great… but eating utensils? They are something that customers kind of expect to have when PAYING to eat in your restaurant.