text:
More than Greed
Age of Greed by Jeff Madrick
Steve Fraser ▪ Winter 2012
Age of Greed:
The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America, 1970 to the Present
by Jeff Madrick
Knopf, 2011, 480 pp.
A new species of book has emerged to tell us about the financial panic and subsequent economic calamity that have befallen the United States (and much of the rest of the world). Some books zero in on a particularly dramatic episode like the spine-tingling final hours leading up to the decision to let Lehman Brothers go under. Others recount the rise or fall of some venerable banking house such as Goldman Sachs or Merrill Lynch and treat these commercial ups and downs as if they were the sagas of grand empires come and gone. Biographical variants gives us the inside dope on titans of finance, invariably men of obsidian hearts and egomaniacal will, undone by their global ambition. Yet another sub-species of this genre, of which Jeff Madrick's Age of Greed is an example, tries to combine story-telling and profiles of the rich and infamous with a survey and analysis of the whole sorry landscape of financial wilding and how its debaucheries came to be.
Melodrama and moral drama supply the oxygen for this new literature. So we have books called Age of Greed, The Greed Merchants, The Big Con, Zombie Capitalism, The Great American Stick-Up, Bad Money, The End of Wall Street, The Banksters, Griftopia. Most of these books share a story line about what happened. An excess of greed nurtured in the highest precincts of the country's financial establishment and ignored, deliberately or negligently, by those public authorities charged with monitoring and reining in these out-sized appetites, led inexorably to the near terminal breakdown, whose after-shocks reverberate to this day.
Madrick puts the case succinctly: "It was the house of cards built on Wall Street greed, unchecked by Washington regulators, that created the nation's credit crisis…and caused the most severe recession in the United States since the Great Depression. " He makes explicit what is often the implicit assumption of this whole corpus; namely, that "the collapse was the product of decisions of individuals, set upon making fortunes and becoming one of the kings of the mountains, not the inevitable failure of a system." There is a kind of drear optimism about this premise because it strongly suggests that heightened vigilance in the future—perhaps a code of strictly enforced blue laws to punish financial gluttony—can put things right again.
HOWEVER, A nagging question remains. No one can deny that in good times, and more appallingly even amid the economic disaster, the "banksters" have shamelessly laid claim to Mount Everest-sized piles of money. This has infuriated citizens across the political spectrum (although that fury has so far had a negligible impact on CEO take-home pay). But greed preceded capitalism and if capitalism puts greed on steroids (although also encourages its ascetic, frugal opposite in the interests of accumulation), well, that has always been the case. If there has been of late a sudden excess of that sin, one might wonder if greed gets to the root of our profound economic dilemma or whether instead it is the nature of that economic crisis that explains the excess of greed.
Age of Greed is a useful book for exploring these matters. It seeks to integrate accounts of various movers and shakers of the neoliberal era—mainly business tycoons but also key politicians and intellectuals—into a more encompassing analysis of "the triumph of finance and the decline of America" since 1970. In the end, however, it fails at its larger ambitions, in part because of the book's rather puzzling structure, which is built around individual profiles.
Jeff Madrick is an esteemed economic analyst whose work is probably best known from his writings for the New York Review of Books. His knowledge of the intricate mechanisms of business and finance is deep and intimate. Whether he's discussing the merger and acquisition mania of the 1980s, the run up to the subprime mortgage debacle of the last decade, or the dismantling of the framework of New Deal financial regulation, Madrick deftly guides the reader through the often esoteric details.
The biographical sketches that make up the whole book are unfailingly informative. Some tread well traveled ground and feel a bit stale or one-sided. but others are livelier and more insightful. I liked particularly the ones of Jack Welch ("Neutron Jack" of lean and mean GE fame), Walter Wriston (the original "terminator" of financial regulation), Howard Jarvis (the tribune of California's Proposition 13 property tax rebellion), Sandy Weill (Citicorp's "greed merchant"), and George Soros (predatory speculator and political renegade from neoliberal orthodoxy). His dissection of the demonic Welch, pioneer of using the corporation as a portfolio of assets to be managed for their short-term, quarterly shareholder results, is surgically precise and functions well as a microcosm of things to come. Madrick's treatment of Jimmy Carter and the productivity crisis of the late 1970s begins to get at some of the deeper reasons—too often elided in the book's other portraits—that the political economy starts its gravitational shift in favor of finance. And Madrick does a neat job deflating Paul Volcker's heroic reputation, recounting the mass unemployment, bankruptcies, diminished levels of investment, foreign loan defaults, and other miseries that followed in the wake of the Federal Reserve chair's austerity measures in the late seventies and early eighties.
All of these portraits, Madrick would say, are studies in the permutations of greed. But a number of them don't really point in that direction, suggesting that the Age of Greed suffers from some conceptual flaws. Principal actors in Madrick's drama—people like Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Milton Friedman, Volcker, Ted Turner, Jack Kemp, Alan Greenspan, even the guru of corporate excellence Tom Peters—seem by Madrick's own account driven more by ideology or ambition, by a quest for glory and glamour, sometimes even by a parsimonious anti-materialism. For example, on Madrick's telling, Reagan's vision had more to do with self-reliance than self-interest. Yet after noting the president's antipathy to materialistic self-absorption, his belief that hard work (however little he may have done of it himself) not material success is what matters, Madrick nevertheless charges him with providing a justification for "runaway individualism and greed."
THERE MAY be more than inconsistency at work here, a disjuncture between the actual lives of some of the people he examines and the allegorical role assigned them by the larger purposes of the book. Take the stories of Sam Walton of Wal-Mart or Steve Ross at Warner Communications. In their separate spheres, each undertakes a relentless quest to become the biggest bully on the block, devouring competitors so as to dominate their industries by virtue of their sheer size. Much of the merger-and-acquisition mania of the late twentieth century that Madrick describes was in part about that. But is this motivated by greed or by the inherent logic of competition and capital accumulation, a logic that one can ignore only on penalty of becoming one of the devoured? What's on display here is a rigorous discipline, not of individual character, but imposed from without by the implacable mechanisms of the market. Madrick does not explore the implications of this systemic argument because he's committed to the idea that the "system" was not at fault for what happened to it.
Although the reader might anticipate a history of the "triumph of finance" from 1970 to the present, there is no narrative logic to the book. Instead, it splinters into its biographical fragments, an instance where the whole is a great deal less than the sum of its parts. Redundancy is one result. For example, I lost count of the number of times Madrick tells the reader about the erosion of Regulation Q, the critical financial rule governing interest rates offered by commercial banks and other financial institutions. While the reader can learn a lot about this or that person or legislative reform or business enterprise, the book remains a strictly anecdotal account of greed.
Age of Greed keeps doubling back in time both because it lacks an informing narrative line and because so many of Madrick's players are involved in the same events. The book does appear to offer such a narrative and explanatory structure as it is divided into two parts: "Revolution" and "The New Guard." However, it is not clear to me how the "revolutionaries" that populate Part I are in any essential way that would be germane to Madrick's greed thesis different from the "New Guard" who show up in Part II. And we continue to hear about the ongoing doings of the "revolutionaries" long after we've entered the realm of the "New Guard." Again, the book's larger objectives are undermined by its form.
WHAT IS perhaps most striking about Madrick's gallery of greed-meisters is who isn't there. Neither Bill Clinton nor his Treasury secretary Robert Rubin makes the list. They do make significant cameo appearances in the biographies of some of Madrick's principals, but presumably in Madrick's view they do not rise to that status themselves. How can that be? The financialization of the economy (that is, the ascendance of the finance, insurance, and real estate sector at the expense of productive investment, especially in manufacturing) and the evisceration of the financial regulatory apparatus established by the New Deal took place on their watch, often at their initiative. If ever there was a time when Marx's apercu that high finance is the "Vatican of capitalism," its diktat obeyed by all without question, was piercingly true, it was during the Clinton boom years until our own day.
Moreover, what the Clinton era confirmed beyond serious doubt was that both major parties had come to a consensus on the political economy of globalized financial capitalism. Certainly this must count as a moment of substantial historical significance, one that consigned the remnants of New Deal "populism" to some attic of the Democratic Party. A book aspiring to capture an "Age," to explain how it came into being, should have felt obliged, indeed might have welcomed the opportunity to explore the careers of two people so critical to making that "Age" what it is. Madrick includes entirely forgettable characters in his biographical roster, wheelers and dealers like Joe Flom or Jimmy Cayne, who have probably been forgotten already. Clinton, of course, won't be forgotten. And Robert Rubin, although not quite the Alexander Hamilton or Andrew Mellon of his day, will still likely remain one of the more notable treasury secretaries of the twentieth century. But they don't make the final cut.
Why? Maybe that decision stems from Madrick's aversion to thinking of the crisis as systemic and to a related faith in the Democratic Party as the repository of the New Deal version of capitalism, a version many progressives would like to restore. But the New Deal not only civilized a broken-down economic system, it also sought successfully to extend the reach of the capitalist marketplace and credit networks not abolish them. It created the political and institutional foundations of mass consumption capitalism. Those foundations eventually crumbled as domestic opportunities for profitable enough capital accumulation grew scarce, a process that in turn exerted a relentless downward pressure on labor costs and the social wage. That is to say, in an increasingly fierce struggle to compete with lower cost foreign producers, American business began to undermine the foundations of "effective demand" among ordinary working people that had kept the system upright for so long. It set in motion a perverse dynamic of disaccumulation or what might be called the auto-cannibalism of an economy eating itself alive. The most developed economy in the world began a process of underdevelopment. Its infrastructure—road, bridges, tunnels, railroads, waterworks, dams, airports, electrical grids—were allowed to decay. The industrial core of the economy was hollowed out by precisely those "financial engineers" Madrick writes about. Deindustrialization signaled that the old system had broken down. This became a long, secular crisis. Gradually and then at an accelerated rate, it elicited one overriding response; namely, to leverage everything in sight. Everything in this case included capital assets that produced debt-based asset bubbles in stocks or housing or other securities and commodities that provided a kind of "privatized Keynesian" stimulus package for elite financial institutions. Meanwhile, below, a working population found itself drowning in a sea of usurious credit.
Elements of this analysis do crop up in Age of Greed, and when they do they are enlightening. But if the book fails to cohere and to rise to the promise of its title, it may in part be due to a profound reluctance to break with the New Deal past. No one could object to more vigilant regulation of the financial system, not to mention the rest of the economy, here and abroad. But a globalized version of the regulatory, Keynesian welfare state seems to circumscribe the far horizon of this perspective; one might call it the reinstatement of civilized capitalism. It is strange that progressives should become a party of the past, preoccupied with the restoration of American capitalism's golden age. It is not an inspiring vision for those seeking a way out of this killing impasse. Indeed, the pathetic state of resistance to a malignant capitalism has suggested as much. Occupy Wall Street may change all that; at least it has pointed its blunt finger at what Madrick and others have avoided: the system. Meanwhile, the price of auto-cannibalism, already steep, will grow ever more draconian.
Steve Fraser is a writer and historian. He is editor-at-large of New Labor Forum and teaches at Columbia University.


Apology doesn't mean that you were wrong, or the other person was right. It means that your relationship is valuable than your ego.
As I feel the tear go down my cheek, I notice that my heart is weak, For the love I have for you, Will always be gold and true, I have made some mistakes, they rest in the past, But know my love will always last, Even though we are a distance apart, You always have the key to my heart.
If My tomorrow never comes I M sorry for all the Things I might have Said I M sorry for all the Things I did Or didn,T Do I M sorry if I ever ignored you I M sorry if I ever made you feel bad Or put you down I M sorry if I ever thought I was bigger Or better than you I M sorry for everything wrong I have ever done I M Writing This becoz if My tomorrow never comes? If I never get A chance To say sorry then I m sorry.. .. .. .. ..


There is a little-known mechanism in place to reduce errors and missing values as your team creates new items in Microsoft Dynamics AX or Microsoft Dynamics 365 software called Mandatory check. This feature is particularly helpful for organizations where retail operations personnel create new products.
In a retail environment, there are unique settings that must be configured on every product in order for them to perform properly through the entire retail workflow. A missing category here, inventory cost price there and next thing you know it you have a huge data disaster on your hands.
Specifically for retail, there is a little-known mechanism in place to reduce errors and missing values as your team creates new items. This feature, Mandatory check, is particularly helpful for organizations where retail operations personnel play a dual-role and from time-to-time create new products within the Microsoft Dynamics AX Client.
So put the Advil down, and let's take a look at how leveraging Mandatory Check can reduce your headaches and prevent data dilemmas. This feature is available both in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 as well as Dynamics 365 for Operations.
You can explore the setup of the Mandatory check setup by navigating to the Released Product grid and selecting a product. Then from the Retail tab click Mandatory check setup in the function section of the ribbon. It's a little deceiving that this would seem to only affect the item selected but rest assured these settings will persist across the entire legal entity.
Depending on the field selected, you'll have the option to specify the value either to be Blank, Not Blank, Zero, Not Zero, Constant or a value from a list. In this example, we required the BOMUnitId to be blank, physical product dimensions (depth, height, and width) be specified and required a Buyer Group, Search Name, and Primary Vendor.
With a few small updates, we can re-check the product and success! This product is now ready to be processed through the many stages of the retail lifecycle according to our unique business requirements.
Microsoft has provided over 100 fields to use in the Mandatory Check as a jumping off point. Working closely with your trusted Microsoft Partner it is possible to develop this feature to include the specific fields required throughout your business process.
Andrew Reeck serves as a key member of the New West Dynamics Implementation team and is based out of New York City. Leveraging over fifteen years of retail operational experience with the world's largest retailers, Andrew boasts a unique functional-technical perspective on retail implementations. Andrew earned his MBA with a specialization in Technology Management from Rollins College. His free time is spent doing what he loves most, traveling and playing outside with his Chihuahua.


Deer Valley homes for sale in the Bald Eagle Club subdivision enjoy some of the finest ski in/ski out access on the Deer Valley Resort. 7 ski runs and 3 chairlifts serve the home owners of Bald Eagle. Gated, private, exclusive, some of the finest homes in Park City with on mountain views.
If your family will appreciate being able to go skiing, have lunch, and wrap up their day on their own schedule, then you'll enjoy the worlds finest ski access, Bald Eagle Club in Upper Deer Valley.
Bald Eagle Club homes and land hit the market in 1989, covering 126 acres, more than half of which is open space.


text:
Home Around the state FC Construction Services joins $1.5B healthcare project in Philadelphia
FC Construction Services joins $1.5B healthcare project in Philadelphia
FC Construction Services announced that it has joined the construction team of Penn Medicine Pavilion in Philadelphia..
Pavilion is a $1.5-billion hospital project that includes construction of a new clinical facility featuring 700 new beds and 50 operating and procedure rooms.
Penn Medicine touted Pavilion as Philadelphia's most "ambitious health care building project." The 17-story, 1.5 million sq. ft. facility is expected to be completed in 2021.
FC Construction will be responsible for the project's manpower tracking, job creating, RFID badging, and construction workforce analytics reporting. The reporting systems will streamline real-time communication and decision-making for project managers and supervisors, the company said in a statement.
"The partnering and collaborative features of this project are the kind of forward-thinking we believe in at FC Construction Services. The idea that the success of each party relies on that of others creates a symbiotic ownership each step of the way. We are extremely excited to be part of the Penn Medicine Pavillion team," said Mark Hinton, director and co-founder of FC Construction.
Previous articleNew federal courthouse to be built in Harrisburg
Next articleConstruction industry added 228,000 jobs over the past year
Architectural firms selected for Pittsburgh Airport's terminal design
Work to begin on $6M I-79 resurfacing project in Erie County

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Attack on Titan producer George Wada said the previously announced Attack on Titan game is coming in 2014, Anime News Network reports. Few details are known besides the vague, year-long release window and that the game will be produced either as a "console or portable video game," meaning you don't have to plan to have you hopes dashed when its revealed to be a Japan-only cellphone game.
Localization, theoretically, shouldn't be too much of an issue, either. The manga has been licensed for US publishing by Kodansha Comics USA, the company responsible for the Akira manga reprint that's sitting behind me on my bookshelf. Meanwhile, the anime adaptation is currently airing in Japan and available for pain free streaming with subtitles from both Crunchyroll and Funimation.
Despite most people I know keeping up with the anime about giant humanoid monsters demolishing and devouring the last bastions of civilization, I'm a bit behind and not all that itching to catch up (I've got The Woman Called Fujiko Mine to watch, along with NBC's startlingly good Hannibal). Still, not too hard to see what directions such a game could go, what with the giant monsters to defend against. Anything you'd like to see in it?


The Pulitzers were announced yesterday, and in the category of music, Hank Williams – one of my father's favorite singers – won a special Pulitzer.
I have fond memories of my father, waking me up for school by singing, "Hey hey, good lookin'!" (or, more often, the Mule Skinner Blues – "Good mornin', Captn. – hee, ha hee hee hee!").
Here's the jambalaya recipe, from chef Paul Prudhomme. The chef who put cajun cooking on the map cooked this for the group of food journalists I was with at a New Orleans convention in the '90s. We were crusing down the Mississippi on a riverboat at twilight – and Prudhomme was sitting on deck, next to the biggest skillet I've ever seen in my life, stirring his jambalaya and telling us food editors how to make it. It was simply delicious, and one of many magical meals from that incredible trip.
Cook ham, sausage and chicken in butter in Dutch oven until crisp, about 10 minutes. Add onion, celery and green peppers. Cook for 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato puree, bay leaves, oregano, thyme, garlic and cayenne pepper; simmer for 10 minutes. Add fish stock. Bring to boil. Remove from heat.
Pour into large baking pan. Add rice. Cover tightly with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Add green onion, shrimp and shucked oysters. Cover and bake until all liquid is absorbed – about 15 minutes.


text:
Le I avec empattements, aussi appelé petite capitale I notamment pour la minuscule, est une lettre additionnelle de l'alphabet latin utilisée dans l'écriture du koulango et dans l'alphabet phonétique international. Elle tient sa forme de la lettre I majuscule avec empattements , et est à ne pas confondre avec l'I sans point .

Utilisation

Lorsque l'I avec empattements majuscule est utilisé dans les fontes avec empattements, il peut y avoir une ambiguïté avec la lettre I majuscule habituelle. Cette dernière prend alors une forme inhabituelle basée sur la minuscule (manque un empattement) sans pour autant être identique à la lettre L minuscule.

Alphabet phonétique international

En 1882, quatre années avant la création de l'Association phonétique internationale, A. Gottschling propose la petite capitale i , représentant une voyelle mi-ouverte antérieure non arrondie , comme l'un des symboles de son orthographe phonétique.

La petite capitale i  est utilisée dans l'alphabet phonétique international pour représenter la voyelle pré-fermée antérieure non arrondie. Elle est adoptée comme symbole en 1898, en même temps que les symboles petite capitale U  (plus tard aussi représenté à l'aide de l'upsilon latin ) et petite capitale Y . En 1943, le iota  est adopté comme symbole alternatif pour représenter la même voyelle mais est rejeté en 1989.

Daniel Jones et Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje utilise la petite capitale i avec une barre inscrite  pour mieux la distinguer du i lorsqu'elle porte un accent de ton, dans un ouvrage d'apprentissage du tswana publié en 1916 et écrit avec un alphabet basé sur l'alphabet phonétique international.

Alphabet phonétique ouralien
Dans l'alphabet phonétique ouralien,  représente une voyelle fermée antérieure non arrondie dévoisée , le i minuscule  représentant une voyelle fermée antérieure non arrondie et la petite capitale indiquant le dévoisement de celle-ci.

Langues africaines
La lettre I avec empattements est répertoriée dans l'Alphabet africain de référence de 1978.

Koulango
La lettre I avec empattements est utilisée dans plusieurs publications en koulango de Boundoukou et de Bouna pour représenter une voyelle  aussi représentée avec la lettre latine iota .

Agni indénié
La petite capitale i est utilisée dans la transcription phonétique de l'ouvrage Parlons agni indénié : Côte d'Ivoire, description de l'agni indénié de Firmin Ahoua et Sandrine Adouakou.

Représentations informatiques
La petite capitale I peut être représentée avec les caractères Unicode (Extensions phonétiques, Latin étendu D) suivants :

Elle a aussi pu être représentée avec le codage ISO 6438 :
 Capitale : manquant
 Minuscule ɪ : BF

Notes et références

Bibliographie

I

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


.... We evaluate our giving, Lupton argues, "by the rewards we receive through service, rather than the benefits received by the served."
Short-term mission trips are a case in point. Such "junkets" involve expenditures of between $2.5-5 billion annually, yet produce little lasting change, often displace local labor, and distract indigenous church leaders from more important work. We get more than we give when we go.
Meanwhile, our relief-oriented, commodity-based charity flourishes at home because even though its effects are irresponsible, it feels good to the givers. Lupton grieves that "our free food and clothing distribution encourages ever-growing handout lines, diminishing the dignity of the poor while increasing their dependency."


text:
Kidnap and Ransom
News, information and statistics about kidnap for ransom activities. Data about the security threat is collected from intelligence reports, security companies, kidnap for ransom insurance brokers, hostage negotiators and other public information.
Number of Illegal Refineries Destroyed in Nigeria in Early 2013
in Business Risk, Environmental Threats, Transnational Crime
Security officials in Nigeria reported that they destroyed 748 illegal refineries in the region in the first four months of 2013. In addition to breaking down the refineries, the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta arrested 498 suspects who were involved in oil theft and oil bunkering. 55 suspected kidnappers were also arrested during the operations.
545 boats, 26 barges and 18 vessels were also seized.
Source: "Nigeria: Oil Theft – JTF Destroys 748 Illegal Refineries, Arrests 498 Suspects," All Africa, May 7, 2013.
Number of Sea Piracy Attacks in First Quarter of 2013
in Business Risk, Transnational Crime
In the first three months of 2013, there were 66 reported attacks by sea pirates around the world. The number of attacks in the first quarter of 2013 was down 35 percent from the 102 attacks during the first quarter of 2012.
Between January to March 2013, there were 5 attacks in Somalia, down from 36 cases in 2012.
In the Gulf Region, there were a reported 15 pirate attacks and 3 hijackings during the first quarter of 2013.
In Nigeria, there were 11 pirate attacks in the first three months of 2013.
Source: Associated Press, "World Sea Piracy Down 35 Percent in First Quarter," ABC News, April 15, 2013.
Number of Kidnappings in Venezuela in 2012
Between 625 to 1,970 kidnappings took place in Venezuela in 2012, according to risk consultancy group Control Risks.
The criminal justice system of Venezuela does not keep official statistics on the number of kidnappings, but did report that security officials facilitated the safe return of 413 hostages in 2012.
(All threats and intelligence from kidnap and ransom.)
Source: Corina Pons & Randall Woods, "Venezuelan Ransom Funds Hedge Against Kidnaps as Vote Looms," Bloomberg, April 11, 2013.
Ransom Payments Made to Somali Pirates in 2012
Sea piracy off the coast of Somalia was estimated to have cost the global economy between $5.7 Billion to $6.1 Billion in 2012. The total economic costs were 12.5 percent lower than 2011.
A portion of the decrease was attributed to the increased security presence in the area. The costs to arm guards travelling on ships increased by nearly 80 percent and was costing the shipping industry between $1.15 Billion to $1.53 Billion. The rise in private security led to the decrease in international military operations, whose costs fell 14 percent to $1.09 Billion.
The amont of ransom paid out to pirates in Somalia also decreased in 2012. The Somali Pirates were estimated to have received $31.75 Million in ransom payments in 2012, compared to $159.62 Million the year before.
Source: Reuters, "Global cost of Somali piracy down as higher security deters attacks," Yahoo News, April 9, 2013.
Number of People Kidnapped by Terrorists in 2010
According to figures by the United States National Counter-Terrorism Center, there were 6,050 people who were kidnapped and held hostage by terrorists around the world.
This figure does not include other forms of kidnapping, such as parental kidnapping.
(See the latest intelligence and threats on kidnapping for ransom.)
Source: "Hostage-taking: Trading places," The Economist, March 16, 2013.
Kidnappers in Lebanon in 2013
According to intelligence by security service officials in Lebanon, at the beginning of 2013 there were at least 37 active kidnappers who were targeting members of wealthy families. All of the kidnappers were connected to known crime families and organizations.
One member of a kidnapping group told a reporter from GlobalPost that the kidnappers target businessmen that are wealthy, but not too rich where they would be able to hire private security guards. The target would be monitored for two weeks before the act took place. While in captivity, the hostage would be well fed and treated as a "guest".
The family of a kidnapping hostage reportedly paid a ransom of $25,000 in February after their 12 year old son was kidnapped.
(More kidnapping and ransom payments here.)
Source: Jeff Neumann, "The new business of Lebanon: kidnapping," GlobalPost, March 1, 2013.
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Earnings from Ransom
According to the United States Treasury Department, the average kidnap for ransom payment to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was $4.5 Million per hostage in 2010.
In 2011, the average amount of ransom paid increased to $5.4 Million per hostage.
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is based in Mali and operates throughout Northern Africa.
Source: Adam Nossiter, "Millions in Ransoms Fuel Militants' Clout in West Africa," New York Times, December 12, 2012.
Worldwide Pirate Attacks in 2012
There were a total of 297 pirate attacks that took place around the world in 2012, according to statistics collected by the International Maritime Bureau. 28 ship vessels were hijacked and 585 crew members were taken hostage and held for ransom during the year. 6 people were killed during the year.
Sea piracy off the coast of Somalia decreased to 75 pirate attacks, compared to 237 in 2011. Somali pirates were able to hijack 14 ships in 2012, compared to the 28 that they held for ransom the year before.
(Additional kidnap for ransom statistics.)
In 2011, there were 439 reported pirate attacks around the world.
Source: Associated Press, "World Sea Piracy Falls to Five-Year Low in 2012," ABC News, January 16, 2013.
Average Ransom Demand in 2012
The worldwide average ransom demand in 2012 was reported to be $2 Million, according to Chubb Group of Insurance Companies.
Over half of the kidnap for ransom demands and activities took place in Asia and Africa, with a quarter of the incidents taking place in Latin America. Back in 2004, 55 percent of the kidnapping took place in Latin America.
(More threats and information about kidnap and ransom.)
Source: Lily Kuo, "Kidnapping for ransom is spreading across the world," Quartz, January 10, 2013.
Number of Pirate Attacks in the Horn of Africa in 2012
in Transnational Crime
According to figures collected by the International Maritime Bureau, there were 72 recorded pirate attacks around the Horn of Africa in 2012.
In 2011, there were 236 recorded pirate attacks.
Source: "Piracy: Privateers," Economist, January 12, 2013.
«12345...10...»Last »


Nuclear binding energy is the energy that would be required to disassemble the nucleus of an atom into its component parts. These component parts are neutrons and protons, which are collectively called nucleons. The binding energy of nuclei is due to the attractive forces that hold these nucleons together and this is usually a positive number, since most nuclei would require the expenditure of energy to separate them into individual protons and neutrons. The mass of an atomic nucleus is usually less than the sum of the individual masses of the constituent protons and neutrons (according to Einstein's equation E=mc2) and this 'missing mass' is known as the mass defect, and represents the energy that was released when the nucleus was formed.
The term nuclear binding energy may also refer to the energy balance in processes in which the nucleus splits into fragments composed of more than one nucleon. If new binding energy is available when light nuclei fuse, or when heavy nuclei split, either process can result in release of this binding energy. This energy may be made available as nuclear energy and can be used to produce electricity as in (nuclear power) or in a nuclear weapon. When a large nucleus splits into pieces, excess energy is emitted as photons (gamma rays) and as the kinetic energy of a number of different ejected particles (nuclear fission products).
Binding energy is the energy required to disassemble a whole system into separate parts. A bound system typically has a lower potential energy than the sum of its constituent parts; this is what keeps the system together. Often this means that energy is released upon the creation of a bound state. This definition corresponds to a positive binding energy.
In general, binding energy represents the mechanical work that must be done against the forces which hold an object together, disassembling the object into component parts separated by sufficient distance that further separation requires negligible additional work.
At the atomic level the atomic binding energy of the atom derives from electromagnetic interaction and is the energy required to disassemble an atom into free electrons and a nucleus.Electron binding energy is a measure of the energy required to free electrons from their atomic orbits. This is more commonly known as ionization energy.
At the molecular level, bond energy and bond-dissociation energy are measures of the binding energy between the atoms in a chemical bond.


Britain's best nature writing of the last year has been revealed, as judges unveil the Wainwright Golden Beer Prize longlist.
Now in its fourth year, The Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize is awarded annually to the book which most successfully reflects the ethos of renowned nature writer Alfred Wainwright's work, to inspire readers to explore the outdoors and to nurture a respect for the natural world.
The Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize celebrates the resurgent genre of nature writing. The 2017 longlist is proof that British nature and travel writing is in good health.
The longlisted books cover studies of otters and of foxes, a celebration of birdwatching, a memoir set against a lifetime of fishing, an account of the relationship that First World War soldiers had with nature and a study in to the rewilding of Britain's urban and rural areas.
In charge of choosing a winner from the star-studded longlist is TV presenter Julia Bradbury, who chairs the expert judging panel.
She says: 'I'm delighted to be chairing the judging panel for the Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize this year, it really is a thought-provoking prize.
Joining Julia on the judging panel are: fellow TV presenter Matt Baker; publisher of the National Trust Magazine, Sally Palmer; chair of both Gardener's Question Time and the Wainwright Society, Eric Robson; Mail on Sunday journalist, Sarah Oliver; and former Chairman of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Peter Waine.
The prize shortlist will be announced on 27 June. The winner will be announced on 3 August at an event in the National Trust Arena at the BBC Countryfile Live at Blenheim Palace.
Browse our new books for 2017, showcasing the best of Britain across houses, cookery, outdoors, gardening, green living and more.


It's been a really long time since I've sat down to write about my thoughts and processes. It used to be a habit when I took IB Art back in High School, but it was easy then. I was required to document that sort of stuff. While no one's forcing me to do that anymore, I've enjoyed the little bits I've written here and there since I made that leap-of-faith-purchase with Sammy for our DSLR cameras that August of 2014. I've really gotten to see how far I've come and how I was feeling along the way.
I just finished editing this new set of engagement photos of a sweet couple, Taylor and Bryan, from Elizabeth City who drove to meet us here for this shoot in Winston-Salem. Taylor's also working on a photography business of her own which I believe she mentioned having started sometime late last year. After getting referred to us from her future brother-in-law, who also happens to be a teammate of mine at work, she told me she looked at my work and trusted me to pick the location and timing of the shoot, so long that it was during the golden hours of the day. Of course she would know about that! And I was flattered that she trusted me so much to work out the details of our scheduled shoot.
The weekend had been so windy and we were scheduled to shoot for Saturday initially, but the wind was not our friend. We decided to postpone for the next day on Sunday instead and it was much better by then. I thought it went really well! Sammy was great helping me with our checklist of poses, angles, and lightening up the mood. He's become a much better photographer since helping me as my second shooter these last several shoots we've been on together. In fact, I've actually picked out a few of his shots in this set you'd probably never guess were his!
So getting back on topic, the point was to write about my progress. The shoot was done which left editing; the part that really distinguishes an individual's personal style, and one that I feel keeps changing for me! I've never been afraid to experiment and I do so with each and every shoot I've done. Asides customizing the shoot details for every client I've worked with, my editing has also been unique to each shoot. There hasn't been one job that's been the same as the next. The overwhelming green of the park and gardens were beautiful in person, but in the photos seemed like too much. So I tried to create a more dynamic source of light from photo to photo so that it didn't seem overwhelming green and monotonous. It makes for a less boring shot, I think.
SUPER happy with the way these turned out though! Taylor's biggest push was to shoot during the golden hours of the day so I kept that in mind as I edited these, knowing that she was probably looking for that warm glow-y feel while at the same time, added my own personal touches as well.


SEM (Search Engine Marketing) takes care of generating traffic to a website through search engines. And Google is the search engine used by more than 90% of users in Europe. For a company, it is essential to appear in Google search results (Google.com.mt, Google.it, Google.co.uk or Google.com). So, Google AdWords is the most qualified platform to find potential customers.


Now your Sim's desire to live the part of royalty has finally come true. Everyone knows that a Sim's home is their castle. The Lord and Lady can live happily in the castle of their dreams surrounded by the gothic furniture.


text:
Q: SQL Query to find the last change prior to a given date I have 2 tables, one with product change info and another with test info and I'm trying to build a query to find the last product change information prior to the test.
For example, in the data below for, each of the tests I want to return something like:

product_sn
testtype
testdate
part_spec
changedate

ABC0001
hot
2021-01-01 13:00:00
nylon
2021-01-01 00:00:00

ABC0001
hot
2021-01-01 16:00:00
steel
2021-01-01 15:00:00

ABC1234
hot
2021-01-01 18:00:00
steel
2021-01-01 17:00:00

ABC1234
cold
2021-01-01 18:10:00
steel
2021-01-01 17:00:00

ABC1234
mid
2021-01-01 18:20:00
steel
2021-01-01 17:00:00

ABC0001
hot
2021-01-02 09:00:00
brass
2021-01-01 20:00:00

ABC1234
cold
2021-01-01 19:00:00
steel
2021-01-01 17:00:00

I'm a bit of a noob in sql and can't quite figure out the best terms to search for elsewhere in stackoverflow :)
CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE Scratchpad.product
    (`ID` INT64,
    `product_sn` STRING,
    `part_spec` STRING,
    `changedate` datetime
    )
;

INSERT INTO Scratchpad.product
    (`ID`, `product_sn`, `part_spec`, `changedate`)
VALUES
    (1, 'ABC0001', 'nylon','2021-01-01 00:00:00'),
    (2, 'ABC0001', 'steel','2021-01-01 15:00:00'),
    (3, 'ABC0001', 'brass','2021-01-01 20:00:00'),
    (4, 'ABC1234', 'steel','2021-01-01 17:00:00'),
    (5, 'ABC1234', 'nylon','2021-02-01 00:00:00')
;

CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE Scratchpad.test
    (`ID` INT64,
     `product_sn` STRING,
      `testtype` STRING,
      `testdate` datetime
    )
;

INSERT INTO Scratchpad.test
    (`ID`, `product_sn`, `testtype`, `testdate`)
VALUES
    (1, 'ABC0001', 'hot','2021-01-01 13:00:00'),
    (2, 'ABC0001', 'hot','2021-01-01 16:00:00'),
    (3, 'ABC1234', 'hot','2021-01-01 18:00:00'),
    (4, 'ABC1234', 'cold','2021-01-01 18:10:00'),
    (5, 'ABC1234', 'mid','2021-01-01 18:20:00'),
    (6, 'ABC0001', 'hot','2021-01-02 09:00:00'),
    (7, 'ABC1234', 'cold','2021-01-01 19:00:00')
;

A: Figured it out thanks to this other answer here https://stackoverflow.com/a/45041970/274349
#standardSQL
SELECT
  t.ID AS ID,
  t.product_sn,
  t.testdate as date,
  t.testtype,

  ARRAY_AGG(r.part_spec ORDER BY r.changedate desc LIMIT 1)[SAFE_OFFSET(0)] AS part_spec,
  ARRAY_AGG(r.changedate ORDER BY r.changedate desc LIMIT 1)[SAFE_OFFSET(0)] AS part_change

FROM `Scratchpad.test` AS t
JOIN `Scratchpad.product` AS r
ON t.product_sn = r.product_sn
AND r.changedate <= t.testdate
GROUP BY ID,product_sn, date, testtype

A: This can be a tricky problem in BQ.  One solution is:
select t.*,
       (select as struct p.part_spec, p.change_date
        from `Scratchpad.product` p
        where p.product_sn = t.product_sn and
              p.changedate < t.testdate
        order by p.changedate desc
        limit 1
       )
from `Scratchpad.test` t;

This may work, but BigQuery is sometimes finicky about inequalities in left joins and subqueries.
A more verbose approach is:
select array_agg(t order by p.change_date desc limit 1)[ordinal(1)].*,
       array_agg(p order by p.change_date desc limit 1)[ordinal(1)].*
from `Scratchpad.test` t left join
     `Scratchpad.product` p
     on p.product_sn = t.product_sn and
        p.changedate < t.testdate
group by t.id;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Take the Next Step on Your Journey to Medical Licensure
Demonstrate and apply your knowledge and patient-centered skills as you prepare to become a licensed physician.
Go to Exams
Read the 2023 Bulletin
Step 1 - Scheduled Delay in Score Reporting for Exams Taken Mid-April through Late May 2023
USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK – Scheduled Score Delays in 2023
Step 3 – Scheduled Delay in Score Reporting for Early 2023
I am Taking the Step 1 Exam
Go to Step 1
I am Taking the Step 2 CK Exam
Go to Step 2 CK
Your USMLE Journey to Medical Licensure in the U.S.
Explore resources and practice materials designed to help you prepare for test day, including content outlines, an overview of test question formats, and sample test questions that can be taken within the Tutorial and Practice Test Items application.
Exam Resources
The United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®) is a three-step examination for medical licensure in the U.S. The USMLE assesses a physician's ability to apply knowledge, concepts, and principles, and to demonstrate fundamental patient-centered skills, that are important in health and disease and that constitute the basis of safe and effective patient care.
Find answers to the most common questions on topics such as applying for the USMLE, preparing for your exam, score reports, transcripts, and more.


Pass You JNCIA-Junos JN0-102 Juniper Exam Or Get Your Money Back!
The top secret of victory of most of students in JN0-102 updated audio training are the implausible updated JN0-102 interactive exam engine and JN0-102 from Pass4sures updated test questions which demonstrate complete coverage of course in much lesser time, a comparatively and moderately instant and radiant development to achieve the maximum achievable score without any dilemma. Want to accomplish in JNCIA-Junos JN0-102 Juniper updated video training with the best scores?? The best judgment that must be taken is PassForSure Juniper JN0-102 Juniper Networks Certified Associate Junos (JNCIA-Junos) updated mp3 guide that provides you worthy preparation with audio visual handouts and accurate course with effortless reliability and when united with Pass4sures Juniper JN0-102 free dump you will get unbelievable outcome. Our Juniper Networks Certified Associate Junos (JNCIA-Junos) latest questions and answers along with Juniper JNCIA-Junos JN0-102 exam engine are downloaded by the students in abundance. This is because we address each and every aspect which may be required by the students at the time of taking latest JN0-102 video training. Though ambition in itself is a vice, it often is also the present of virtue. So make your ambition JN0-102 audio lectures online. And run to achieve it. Our JN0-102 from Pass4sure test materials online and JN0-102 Juniper Networks Certified Associate Junos (JNCIA-Junos) Juniper online practise exam will surely help you to get success in the exam. I have never had a policy. I have simply tried to do what seemed best each day, as each day come. So do your best by adopting updated JN0-102 from Pass4sure audio lectures and Juniper JNCIA-Junos JN0-102 updated engine to get your Juniper JNCIA-Junos JN0-102 online video training and perform well and present your best.
An aim in life is the only fortune worth finding. Your aim of Juniper Networks Certified Associate Junos (JNCIA-Junos) updated video lectures needs a lot of efforts that is the only fortune worth finding, our product PassForSure JN0-102 video training online and JN0-102 Juniper JNCIA-Junos updated audio training will finally take you towards success. All your dreams and desires of getting a super score in the updated JNCIA-Junos JN0-102 Juniper computer based training is a few clicks away, all you have to do is to download our JNCIA-Junos JN0-102 Juniper from Pass4sures free test dumps and JN0-102 from Pass4sure online practise test. By downloading our Pass4sure's JN0-102 Juniper updated exam dumps and Pass4sure's JN0-102 lab simulation you will be making sure that the next time you easily pass in the exams you pass the latest Juniper JNCIA-Junos JN0-102 video training. Click on our Juniper Juniper Networks Certified Associate Junos (JNCIA-Junos) JNCIA-Junos intereactive testing engine and Juniper JNCIA-Junos JN0-102 from Pass4sures latest audio guide and let the magic begin for your success in the JN0-102 video lectures online. This is not an intimation or warning, this is just an advice that students should not select Juniper JN0-102 JNCIA-Junos classroom training online for exam preparation. We have delivered updated JN0-102 engine which is carry sufficient stuff for scoring higher mark in JN0-102 audio training.
There are number of times students lose hope and don't go for higher ranks in their career with latest JN0-102 bootcamp training.Correct your mistakes and download the JN0-102 class room and JNCIA-Junos JN0-102 Juniper online intereactive testing engine today for real exam experience at your computer screen.
If you are looking for the most audacious training guide for passing the updated Juniper JN0-102 JNCIA-Junos video lectures then all you need to do is to download our updated Juniper Networks Certified Associate Junos (JNCIA-Junos) Juniper JNCIA-Junos from PassForSure video training and Juniper Networks Certified Associate Junos (JNCIA-Junos) from Pass4sures latest bootcamps. The most time tested way of passing the JNCIA-Junos JN0-102 Juniper online cbt is to download our Pass4sures Juniper JN0-102 JNCIA-Junos online audio study guide and updated JN0-102 Juniper JNCIA-Junos from Pass4sures study notes and then study them thoroughly.


You've got to "Like" this!
How do you stay up to date on political news? If you're like the majority of millennials — 61% to be exact — you get it from Facebook. That stat, coupled with the fact that Facebook is one of the top sources in America for news about government and politics, makes the social media networking giant an important player in the 2016 presidential race for the White House.
So it's only natural that the company is teaming up with FOX News and the Ohio Republican Party to co-host the first presidential debate of the 2016 election cycle. And here's the fun part: you get to be involved.
During tonight's FOX News-Facebook Debate, featuring Republican candidates and starting at 9 pm ET on FOX, the moderators will be tapping into the issues that are receiving the most attention from Americans on Facebook. This will help them come up with some of their questions, and we got a first look at the top five most discussed topics on the platform: racial issues, Mexico, the economy, LGBT issues and immigration (in that order).
You can also ask questions directly by heading over to the FOX News Facebook page and submitting a comment, picture or video asking the candidates something, which might then be featured during the debate (how cool is that?!). You can also submit a photo that shows the candidates what you think needs to change in America and add your voice about the above issues and other areas of discussion such as healthcare, women's reproductive rights or climate change — whatever is most important to you.
And during the debate, there will be a special "watch party" on the FOX Facebook page where the network's broadcasters will post commentary and interact with viewers. Plus, starting at 5 pm ET you can score a custom check-in icon to show your friends that you're watching, and that they should probably be tuned in too.
Just as television changed presidential debates back in 1960, Facebook and social media are sure to shake things up in this year's political race, and we can foresee this being a trend going forward.
So be sure to catch the debate tonight, and let your voice (and opinions) be heard!


text:
Parks, Squares and Alleys — российский инди-рок коллектив организованный Сергеем Хавро.

История
Основатель проекта Сергей Хавро начал заниматься музыкой с 2009 года еще будучи школьником в городе Хабаровск. По словам Сергея, чтобы влиться в "музыкальную тусовку" ему приходилось играть oi панк. Его сольный проект первоначально назывался "Tom and Cherry" который вскоре был переименован в "Walrus Meditation" , а затем в "Parks Squares and Alleys" вдохновившись сборником "Hits Are for Squares" группы Sonic Youth и парками города Нью-Йорк.

Спустя несколько лет Сергей переезжает в Москву где презентует свой второй альбом Against Illusions and Reality.

25 января 2018 года выходит третий альбом Cold Blood Magic.

Дискография

Альбомы

 2011 — Memories
 2015 — Against Illusions and Reality
 2018 — Cold Blood Magic

Мини-альбомы

 2011 — Sad Daydreams
 2012 — Fatalists

Синглы

 2015 — We're Not Just Friends
 2016 — Parasites
 2018 — Ageless
 2019 — Lucky 9
 2020 — Мертвый сезон (ft. луни ана)
 2020 — Друг (ft. САММЕР КОМА)
2021 — 1312
2023 — No One
2023 — Alliance

Примечания

Инди-рок-группы России


Today was packed with lovely scenery and lots of silly laughs!
Our day began with a quick orientation and devo with Alaska Mission for Christ representatives at Beautiful Savior Church.
Next, after a quick coffee [hut!] run, we headed to the wonderful Alaska Native Heritage Center where we learned about and interacted with native Alaskan tribes up close and personal! We toured a village surrounding a beautiful pond with model dwellings from the five major Alaskan native cultures, listened to people's stories, browsed Native American art and clothing, and danced!! We learned to have open perspectives and listening hearts as we developed relationships with the people there as well as with our fellow team members.
After a delicious and long-awaited lunch of gourmet pizza at the Moose's Tooth, the women and Pastor Toby went shop-a-lopping for supplies and food for the week, while the kids and rest of the dads swam and played at the hotel.
We concluded our day with a team meeting devo and quick dinner followed by a STUNNING scenic walk at Potter's Marsh featuring gorgeous mountainous views, sneaking muskrats, slippery salmon, and soaring eagles.
Praise God for His amazing creation and the opportunity to soak in this glorious part of His kingdom! Thanks be to God for wonderful ways to grow and laugh with each other as He prepares us to serve Him throughout the rest of the week! Please pray for last minute preparations tomorrow morning before we head to Mount Drum and for our hearts to continually be seeking ways to serve others before ourselves.
07/21/2017 - We're on our way!
We got to our hotel at about 10pm Alaska time (1am MN time). Everyone is running of fumes at that point. All of our early preparation, double checking, and calling (up to our departure) paid off.
The rental vans were next. Brian had called about 5 times to double check on the availability and reservation of the 3 minivans…and wouldn't you know it, they only had two. With a little shuffle we got a free upgrade on the third to 12 passenger van. Wohoo!
We got to the hotel, no hiccups here. It's a wonderful place to finally land for the night. The service and rooms are nice, clean, and quiet.
This display welcomed us off the plane, so funny.
It's 6:20, time to head down to our free breakfast. Then we're off to our first day in Alaska including orientation with Alaska Mission for Christ, grocery shopping, and a little sight-seeing.
Praise and thanksgiving for God taking care of our travel, luggage, vehicles, and hotel accommodations. Please pray for our shopping that we find all we need. Pray for our hearts and eyes to be wide open and see where God is at work in us, this place, and on this trip. Pray with us Philippians 2:1-11, our meditation for Thursday night, our first night on the ground.
At 5:45pm we'll be boarding the plan and on our way to Alaska! The days of planning, preparing, and packing are finally done...and now the onsite part of this adventure begins.
The kids have had their bags packed for about a week, some adults too. Others, like me, packed last night. My kids are super excited, each in their own way. My daughter has been counting down every day since our last team meeting saying, "I can't believe in ___ days we're flying to Alaska!"
We are so thankful for the opportunity to partner with, and walk alongside, Alaska Mission for Christ. We pray and look with eyes and hearts wide-open for all that God has in store for us and everyone!


text:
Posts Tagged 'justice'
Broken RCMP means broken people
This week, a serving member of the RCMP sent a message to the Prime Minister of Canada complaining about the actions of the Commissioner of the RCMP. Yes, you read that right.
I have never heard of such a thing.
The author is one of the YVR Four who was scapegoated by the Force. I have written much about their case, included the fact they were scapegoated, thrown under the bus, and two of them served jail sentences for doing their job.
And the RCMP knew that all along. In a May 2008 report examining the actions of the RCMP in the October 2007 incident at YVR in which Polish traveller Robert Dziekanski lost his life, the authors spent more than 1200 pages examining, primarily, their communications failures and errors after the event. But, throughout the document it clearly states the members were in the lawful execution of their duties and acted according to their training and the use of a Taser (CEW) was appropriate.
Indeed, in the report it links to an email written to the Commanding Officer, Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass in November 2007, a month after the incident which says all of that.
Yet, they never said that publicly. They never defended their members despite the withering media criticism, the subsequent Braidwood Commission, the Special Prosecutor appointment, the prosecution of all four members and the conviction and jailing of two of them. They never came to their defence despite knowing all along they did nothing wrong.
The author of the complaint requested an investigation by the RCMP into all of this claiming it amounted to Obstruction and Breach of Trust. The Commissioner, Brenda Lucki, declined to do this hiding behind the fact there was pending litigation against the Force by three of the four members and that precluded a criminal investigation. Stuff and nonsense.
After being sworn in as Commissioner Lucki said, "I plan to challenge assumptions, seek explanations, and better understand the reasons how we operate. This means that no stone will be left unturned." Well, apparently this is one stone she will leave unturned.
Hence, the complaint to the Prime Minister who thus far, has declined to get involved. Sgt. Peter Merrifield, co-chair of the National Police Federation, the group seeking standing to represent rank and file members of the Force as their union, also weighed in saying to the Prime Minister, "Your government is playing 'politics' with peoples lives. Innocent members of the RCMP have been put in prison, hundreds of them have been destroyed emotionally by the abuse and lack of fair recourse institutionally, and are looking to you to hold the RCMP to account. Worst of all hundreds of our members have been destroyed by internal abuses and a lack of accountability and some of them have tragically taken their own lives."
Then there's the treatment of another four members. Four female members, unknown to each other at the time, who were all victimized by the same male member, Rob Blundell.
Blundell was an undercover operator at the time. When he was working a project in Calgary, he asked for, and got assigned to him, young female constables eager to play with the big boys to act as arm candy, so to speak, to help him establish his cover. In at least one of the cases he never had authorization to do that. But, I suspect, that may have been the case in all.
In each of the cases, after much drinking to play their role, Blundell got them back to his hotel using ruses like: there's been a mistake with your room booking and now the hotel is sold out so you'll have to stay in my room or we need to debrief the evening's operation.
In three of the cases he molested the female members during the night and they fought back. In one case, the young woman awoke with him having penetrating sex with her.
None of the four said anything initially, fearing they wouldn't be believed or it would hurt their career prospects. After Catherine Galliford came forward with her story publicly, the dam burst and each of the four came forward with similar complaints, in similar circumstances about the same male member. One of them was Krista Carle who committed suicide two weeks ago.
Carle was one of the faces of the hundreds of female members who complained of systemic bullying and sexual harassment in the RCMP. She spoke out very publicly about the abuse.
But the real problem wasn't just the abuse she suffered at the hands of Blundell. No, it was the way the RCMP abandoned her and the other three members and protected a rapist.
After their complaints were laid, the Old Boys network kicked into overdrive. The gossip mill was rife with lies about the four complainants much in the same way the RCMP tried to assassinate the character of Galliford. They were drunks or sluts or slackers or whatever.
Needless to say none of it was true, but still they endured it. Blundell was brought up in an administrative hearing before a tribunal of senior officers. But, for whatever reason, the RCMP started with the rape complaint, not the groping complaints which would have laid the groundwork for the rape allegation. Instead, they started with that one and in the absence of corroborating evidence, which the other three would have provided had their cases been called first, Blundell was acquitted by the tribunal.
The RCMP then brought administrative proceedings against Blundell on the other three almost identical matters. Suddenly, a senior officer from BC showed up in Calgary and after discussions with Blundell told the counsel representing the women that Blundell would plead guilty to sexual touching, and be disciplined, and the matter would go away.
Counsel said the three women wanted to tell their stories in the hearing. They wanted their day in court and she would have to seek instructions before agreeing to the deal. The senior officer, Peter German, now the investigator into the systemic casino money laundering in BC, told the lawyer her client was the CO of E Division, Deputy Commissioner Bev Busson who was paying the bills not the three women.
And with that Blundell got the only penalty he would ever get for being a predator and a rapist, a day suspension when he pled guilty to sexual touching, admitting to groping over their clothes when the truth is nothing of the sort.
The Old Boys Network protected another of their own. Blundell retired last year with a full Staff Sergeant's pension. Two of the four women spoke publicly about the incidents. One of whom has been marginalized in a Vancouver Island Detachment in a non-operational job, and has not been promoted since she filed her complaint. The other is Krista Carle, who left the Force after the administrative hearings and killed herself two weeks ago.
And the Commissioner insists the Force is not broken.
Tagged with disgrace, justice, National Police Federation, police, politics, Prime Minister, RCMP
Common sense judgement
In the wake of the discussion last week of the manslaughter charge against RCMP Cst. Jason Tait, as a result of his actions stopping a drunk driver who was refusing to stop, let's consider some things. He took the action he took to protect the citizens of Castlegar. He did his duty at great risk to himself, much like police officers do every day across this country.
Things happen in the blink of an eye and police have to react to what is unfolding with two objectives; to eliminate the perceived threat and to protect life, which includes their own.
Tait was charged by the Criminal Justice Branch (CJB) three and a half years after the event occurred. It took the Independent Investigations Office nearly two years to do their investigation and a further 16 months for CJB to review it before filing a criminal charge against Tait. That is unconscionable.
I think to appropriately consider this, it is instructive to look at the decision of the now retired Provincial Court Judge Donald Gardner in the prosecution of Delta Police Cst. Vicken Movsessian who was charged with careless use of a firearm after another lengthy IIO investigation.
The incident happened on Nov. 7, 2013 and the court decision was rendered in December of 2016. Suffice to say it has been underreported.
The officer was seconded to CFSEU, a Joint Forces Operation working organized crime. On the night in question, CFSEU had surveillance on a vehicle they believed contained a gang member wanted on over thirty warrants, several of which involved firearms offences. The suspect was believed to be seeking a weapon with which to conduct a home invasion.
During the surveillance the vehicle stopped at a residence of a known gang associate. A passenger got out and went into the carport and retrieved something from the rafters. Police surveillance units could not determine what the object was other than it fit into the hand of the person who retrieved it.
After the vehicle drove away, it was decided to stop the vehicle in what is called a Code 5 takedown, a high-risk traffic stop with multiple police vehicles blocking a suspect vehicle and officers with drawn weapons ordering vehicle occupants out and on the ground where they are secured. Or, at least, that's the plan.
During the execution of the stop, Movsessian was focussed on the man in the rear seat the police believed to be their primary target. The suspect dropped his hand towards his hip and Movsessian fired once, striking the suspect. He then dragged him out of the car and secured him. Apparently, at some point in time Movsessian said he was sorry. He recognized the person he had shot was not their target but rather another related drug dealer, a 31 yr-old named Michael Minchin.
Evidence at trial summed up by the trial judge said this: Cst. Movsessian yelled "Police, show me your hands." "He then saw the target in the backseat lean forward, then turn sideways towards the window. Initially he saw that person's hands in the air and his face pressed against the window. His face was illuminated by the nearby lighting. He had his hands in the air, then suddenly he could not see his hands anymore, as he was leaning back. He seemed to be reaching for something, and the officer thought he was reaching for a firearm."
The search of the suspect and the vehicle turned up drugs but no weapon.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) was contacted and an investigation was begun. Seven months later a Report to Crown Counsel was submitted. It should be noted that Cst. Movsessian never give a statement to investigators as is his right.
The IIO submitted a Report to Crown Counsel some seven months later and it took the Criminal Justice Branch nearly a year later to approve a charge of Careless Use of a Firearm against Cst. Movsessian. How they arrived at that is anyone's guess. One can only assume it was because of the apology, but that is only a guess.
At trial the Crown advanced the theory that Cst. Movsessian forgot his training to keep his index finger on the trigger guard and accidentally shot Minchin. Defence argued no such thing. Defence argued that Cst. Movsessian "acted intentionally in discharging his firearm and his conduct did not amount to careless use of a firearm." Indeed, Cst. Movsessian testified during the four day trial to that effect.
The judge relied on the evidence of a use of force expert, RCMP Insp. Chris Butler who testified about reaction time for police officers with a weapon drawn and the perception of a threat. Judge Gardner said in judgement, "The summary of the above two points means that officers are almost always behind the action/reaction time curve. If an officer waits until he or she is able to discern with complete certainty that an offender does in fact have a gun, the officer will be shot at 100 percent of the time before they respond."
The judge also displayed a remarkable amount of common sense when he said, "I also note that this trial has occurred over four days. The submissions of counsel alone lasted more that two hours, an I have not lost sight of the fact the accused did not have that amount of time to decide whether or not to shoot."
"I have concluded that Cst. Movsessian had reasonable grounds to believe, at the moment he fired his weapon, his life was in danger due to the unpredictable actions of Mr. Minchin. As such, Cst. Movsessian's actions were not a marked departure from the standard of care of a reasonably prudent officer in these circumstances."
And with that he dismissed the charge. This is important for the IIO and CJB to understand the decision and the fact Gardner J. took judicial notice of threat perception / reaction times for police and the fact officers have milliseconds to decide shoot/don't shoot. The fact he also took judicial notice of that when he referred to the amount of time for counsel submissions compared to Cst. Movsessian's decision to shoot.
One hopes the judge assigned to the charge against Cst. Tait also considers these salient facts as well. One also hopes the IIO reads this decision and thoroughly digests it as they proceed in their investigations going forward.
Tagged with Criminal Justice Branch, IIO, justice, police, shooting, training
RCMP officer charged with manslaughter for doing his job
Two days ago the Criminal Justice Branch released information saying that as a result of an investigation by the Independent Investigations Office into a police involved shooting that occurred "during an attempted traffic stop on January 29, 2015," RCMP Constable Jason Tait of the West Kootenay Traffic Unit was now charged with manslaughter.
There was precious little other information. All the media reporting I could find on the original incident at the time yielded little more.
An attempted traffic stop? There's got to be much more to the story. So, I started poking around to try and find out what happened.
It turns out the man who was shot, Waylon Edey, 39, who lived in Yahk, BC had been drinking in a Nelson bar and was so drunk he was cut off by the bar staff. They told him not to drive or they would call the police. He told them to "Go f**k themselves." He got in his pick up truck and bar staff called 9-1-1.
The next call comes from staff at a drive-thru restaurant who report Edey is drunk and has open liquor in his vehicle, a 5,000 lb. Ford F-150 and is heading toward Castlegar.
Tait was off shift and had just arrived home. He'd heard the call but didn't think too much about it until his supervisor called him and requested he assist looking for the reported drunk driver.
Now, it should be noted that Tait was a member of "Alexa's Team" a select group of 335 police officers, who "have made an extraordinary contribution in reducing the number of alcohol and drug affected drivers." The team was formed by the parents of Alexa Middelaer who was killed at the age of four by a drunk driver in Delta, BC.. All of the officers involved took it very personally and did all they could to prevent another Alexa tragedy.
Tait didn't hesitate when he got the call. He jumped back in his police SUV and drove out of town looking for the pick up truck. He spotted it near Ootschinia, just outside Castlegar on Hwy #3. He turned and activated his emergency equipment. Moments later the suspect vehicle, driving at about 90 KMH entered the Kinnaird Bridge at the entrance to town.
On the other side of the bridge were strip malls, restaurants and typically, at 8 o'clock in the evening, a lot of pedestrian traffic.
Tait felt he had to stop the impaired driver before he reached that foot traffic lest another tragedy happen.
I should also add that Edey has a history of drunk driving. At the time of the incident he was on probation and his license was suspended. He was also facing charges from another earlier incident from Cranbrook when he tried to run an RCMP road check stop and two members had to dive out of the way to avoid getting hit by him. He was listed on police computers as a flight risk and dangerous to police.
Neither of those officers were spoken to by the IIO during their investigation.
Tait overtook the suspect vehicle on the left and spun his SUV in the so-called attempted traffic stop. He got out of his vehicle which had all the lights activated, drew his weapon and moved to the rear of the driver's side. Edey showed no sign of slowing down. When he was about 15 feet from the police vehicle Tait fired several shots and started running laterally towards the side of the bridge thinking he might have to jump over, contemplating the 150 ft. drop to the river.
The pickup truck hit the police vehicle on the passenger side toward the rear and continued rolling forward. Tait ran after the vehicle and stabbed the rear tire to disable the vehicle and found Ebey slumped over the wheel.
As a trained paramedic and EMT, he got him out of the vehicle and began emergency first aid and called EHS. Ebey later died of a single bullet wound in hospital.
The IIO had the file for nearly two years and after submitting their report to Crown another 16 months ensued before a decision was made to charge Tait. The CJB attempted to justify the long delays in their press release saying: "The investigation and charge assessment process were protracted due, in part, to the complexities of the evidentiary issues in the case and the requirement for further investigation and analysis."
Well, nonsense.
There was only one gun and it was not a mystery that required ballistics testing. The only testing needed was a tox screen to determine the BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) of Ebey. Something that should only take a week or two.
I am told they sought and received a report from an RCMP Use of Force expert who gave the shooting a clean bill of health. The IIO then sought a second opinion from a Calgary Police Service UOF expert who said there were issues with the level of force used.
I spoke with a retired Vancouver Department UOF expert who told me that based on the circumstances he didn't see an issue. He also cast some doubt on the quality of the CPS expert used by the IIO.
Tait had a duty to stop Edey, a known drunk driver with a history of violence toward police as evidenced by the Cranbrook charges, before he got to the edge of town where the pedestrian traffic was at risk. The public expect their police will do all they can to protect them. Police are duty bound to take acceptable risks in their job. That is what Tait did. He should have a medal pinned on his chest not be before the criminal bar.
Tait was off for a month after the incident. He went through the usual protocols and was given a clean bill of health and following the RCMP review of the shooting, he was returned to active duty. He remained there for 29 months until Crown started making noises that he was going to be charged. An NCO in the RCMP I spoke to thinks this good, young, productive officer may never return to duty given all this.
Tait has spent his whole adult life in the service of this country. Prior to joining the RCMP in 2007, he was in the army and was deployed to Bosnia and then saw action in Afghanistan.
He did his job and this is the thanks he gets. The more I learn of this case, the angrier I get.
Tagged with Criminal Justice Branch, IIO, justice, police, RCMP
More positive signs of change at the IIO
Earlier this week the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) released a report that analyzed their investigation in the Nov. 8, 2012 police involved shooting at the Starlight Casino in New Westminster by Delta Police Cst. Jordan MacWilliams. The analysis was conducted by retired RCMP Supt. Doug Kiloh who has much Major Case Management (MCM) experience but he also had expertise in ERT tactical procedures. Which, I might add, no one involved in the actual investigation had.
On October 20, 2014 MacWilliams was charged with second degree murder. The charges were finally stayed on July 14, 2015.
Regular readers will know that much has been written on this case in which I was very critical of the IIO's investigation and questioned their competence in many aspects and on many occasions.
The Delta Police Association wrote a letter of complaint to the IIO essentially saying their investigation was flawed and also questioned their competence. The IIO, to their credit, then commissioned the review by Kiloh.
Kiloh's 15 page report is very critical of the IIO but does note that in the intervening time a number of things have changed. But he also makes a number of recommendations involving training, investigative techniques, evidence management, MCM protocols and enhanced training.
Kiloh also focused on two salient events from the IIO investigation. One was that investigators never spoke to the female taken hostage that morning. I surfaced her and interviewed about six months after the charge was laid against MacWilliams. I also surfaced the fact that the IIO never asked casino security for their video. Casino security burned a DVD for the New Westminster police and the coroner. They got their copies but the IIO never asked.
When I asked why the IIO never bothered to touch these basic but critical things to understand what happened, I was told that the IIO doesn't concern themselves with what led up to the Affected Person's interaction with police but just the actual interaction. I was stunned.
Well, evidently Kiloh was equally stunned. He deals with these failures and others in his report.
The new Chief Civilian Director, Ron MacDonald, put out a statement corresponding with the release of the Kiloh report. In it he said, "I have accepted the conclusions and recommendations outlined in his report, which is attached, in their entirety." He goes on to say than many of the recommendations have already been undertaken.
He then said this: "As the Chief Civilian Director of the IIO, I am focused on ensuring our investigations are carried out in as excellent and timely a manner as possible. We will always work to improve where necessary. This report and our response to it is an example of how the IIO is prepared to receive feedback and acknowledge weaknesses, recognize the need to improve, and make the needed changes."
Well, that's diametrically opposed to the first CCD, Richard Rosenthal
Considering the new CCD said he accepted the conclusions and recommendations "in their entirety," I sent the following question yesterday to Marten Youssef, the IIO's Director of Public Engagement:
If, in fact, the IIO accepts the report and recommendations "in it's entirety," that leads me to a very salient question. In the Starlight Casino investigation I surfaced the female hostage who was not interviewed by the IIO and the fact that casino security had burned a DVD of all of their video for the IIO but was never asked for it. Kiloh refers to both these matters as failings.
At the time when I questioned these things I was told by the IIO, I believe it was you, that was because the IIO was only interested in the limited focus of the police interaction with the Affected Person and not in circumstances that led up to that interaction."
Youssef forwarded that enquiry to the new CCD who responded himself.
Here is his pasted response intact:
I have reviewed your email regarding the report about the Starlight Casino shooting. That report is about a five year old investigation, and the report notes several issues with that investigation. While it was important for us to release the report to publicly acknowledge those issues, and to demonstrate transparency to the public, at this point my goal is to focus on the approach the IIO takes going forward.
In that sense you refer to the fact that the whole of the circumstances of an incident ought to be relevant in our investigations, not just the immediate interaction between the police and the AP.
To put it simply, I agree with you, and that is indeed the approach we take in our investigations. Not only can that context assist in an assessment of police actions, it will help explain the entire fact situation to the public.
I hope that addresses your questions.
Well, well. Rosenthal never responded to my questions in his four years as CCD, let alone admit I was correct on any issue let alone such a salient one.
There are positive winds blowing at the IIO with this new guy at the helm.
One last point, Earlier today the Criminal Justice Branch released a report saying there would be no charges in an event at West Shore RCMP jail in which the arrestee, very drunk, was fighting with three members and taken to the floor when she sustained an injury. The whole thing is on video as you might imagine.
This occurred four years ago and the decision was only released today. Four years. The new CCD talks about timely investigations. Clearly this was not a priority of the previous administration. So, far he is talking the talk and walking the walk with two recent events that have taken place since he assumed the mantle were cleared in two months and one month respectively.
There were a couple more in the past couple of weeks. We shall see how the new IIO does with those.
I'm hopeful right now that MacDonald has forced the IIO to turn a corner. Early signs are promising.
Tagged with casino, crime, IIO, investigation, justice, leadership, police, training
Political revenge or justice?
Last week the RCMP announced a single charge of Breach of Trust by a public official against Vice Admiral Mark Norman, the former second in command of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The investigation was conducted by the RCMP's National Division, the section responsible,ostensibly, for "sensitive and international" investigations. This is the same section that conducted the investigation of Senator Mike Duffy in the Senate expense scandal. The problem is that it reeks of politics and seems to have little to do with justice.
Norman had in his portfolio oversight of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy which was intended to be the replacement of the Protecteur class of naval supply ships. While the project had been underway for several years, a series of incidents led to the premature decommissioning of the HMCS Preserver and the HMCS Protecteur in 2014.
The government of Stephen Harper understood the problem of not having our own naval supply ships. There aren't any gas stations in the middle of any ocean. That meant our navy was limited in how far our ships could travel. The navy scrambled and rented a supply ship from the Chilean navy for the Pacific, but that was a limited arrangement. They were in the process of negotiating with Spain for a supply ship for the Atlantic coast but that never came to fruition.
The Harper government changed contracting regulations that allowed them to do a sole-sourced contract when operational necessity merited. They then entered into an agreement with Davie Shipyards to convert a cargo ship, the MS Asterix, purchased by the shipyard, into a supply ship that would bridge the gap while Seaspan Shipyards in North Vancouver was building the replacement "Joint Support Ships."
So far, so good. But the Harper government lost the election that year and the country was, yet again, blessed with a Liberal government. Those of us with memory of the last Liberal government recall the absolute cock-up they made of the Sea King helicopter replacement program. Their mismanagement, or should I say political corruption, cost the taxpayers $500 million in penalties for the cancellation of contracts put in place by the previous Conservative government of Brian Mulroney.
The Sea King replacement project began in 1983 and was well on the way until the Tories lost the 1993 election and the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien won. One of their first actions was to cancel the Sea King replacement contracts. To say that decision was simply political and blatantly stupid would be an understatement. There are still Sea Kings in operational use by the Canadian navy. They were old when Mulroney launched the New Shipboard Aircraft Project in 1985 for God's sake. Navy pilots describe the Sea Kings as "10,000 nuts and bolts flying in loose formation."
Not to be outdone, the government of Justin Trudeau, as one of their first acts decided to cancel the contract with Davie Shipbuilding after receiving communications from Irving Shipbuilding on the east coast requesting the cancellation of the contract and opening it up to bids from other shipyards. Naturally, the Irvings through their group of companies are huge donors to the Liberals historically. So Trudeau and the Liberals, as is their wont, decided in Cabinet to do exactly that. In their world the good of the country falls behind what is good for the Liberals.
Needless to say, Norman, was frustrated by that. He is alleged to have engaged in a series of communications with Davie Shipyards about the problem. The information was somehow leaked to the media and the ensuing uproar caused Trudeau to retreat on the decision.
The project went ahead and as we speak, the HMCS Asterix is undergoing sea trials. All's well that ends well one might think. But no, Trudeau called in the RCMP and Norman was suspended by the Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance pending investigation.
The RCMP raided Norman's home as well as Davie Shipyards and a myriad of other places and organizations in Canada as well as the US resulting last week with the announcement of a breach of trust charge against Norman. Stunning.
Norman has an unimpeachable record of service to the nation. And let's be realistic, to penalize a man like that suggesting he leaked something, given that leaks are the capital of government, journalists and lobbyists, simply smacks of revenge.
Clearly Norman, by all accounts, frustrated by political interference, did whatever he did in the best interests of the country. It is also useful to note that Section 122 of the Criminal Code was designed to rout out corruption by public officials, typically for those who make decisions meant to benefit themselves or associates. There is no apparent evidence, at least in the public domain, of any such benefit sought by Norman in any of this. Now, maybe the RCMP unearthed something like that in their investigation, but of that, I am very sceptical.
Adding to all of this, Trudeau, not once but twice, in the past year, before the investigation was concluded and the charge laid, stated this matter would inevitably end up in court. How in the world would he know that? Well, there is certainly historical precedent of the PMO interfering in an RCMP investigation. Project Sidewinder during the Chrétien administration quickly leaps to mind.
No, this smacks of political revenge and crushing someone who defied the Liberals.
Norman is not a wealthy man after a career in the military. Some folks who served with him have set up a GoFundMe account to help with his legal bills trying to fight the might and deep pockets of the Crown.
This is outrageous.
Tagged with crime, justice, Liberals, police, politics, RCMP
Justice delayed is justice denied
There's an old legal maxim which says "Justice delayed is justice denied." The phrase has been attributed to William E. Gladstone who was Prime Minister of the UK for 12 years spread over four terms in the mid to late 19th century.
But the concept goes back to the Magna Carta of 1215, clause 40 which reads, "To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right or justice."
Yesterday the Criminal Justice Branch (CJB) issued a media release saying there would be no charges against a member of the RCMP resulting from an in-custody death that resulted from an incident on February 14th, 2015. The man died in hospital on February 21st, 2015. I shook my head and read it again. Could it really have taken nearly three years to reach a conclusion in the case?
What could possibly be so complicated that it would take that long for a process to determine what happened?
The circumstances seem fairly straight forward.
Jacobus Jonker, 53, was arrested by Smithers RCMP resulting from a domestic dispute. His daughter called 9-1-1 saying her father was drunk, holding a knife and was "really aggressive." She remained on the line with the dispatcher reporting that he had gone to his gun safe and taken out a shotgun, that he may be suicidal and was concerned he would shoot her.
When the responding officer arrived, later to be the so-called subject officer, Jonker was standing in the door. The officer called for him to walk towards him. He did with his hand in his coat pocket saying "shoot me." While he was aggressive and non-compliant, the officer managed to take him into custody without using lethal force, using OC or pepper spray. Good job I say.
At the detachment, the next chapter in the arrest unfolded in the cells. Jonker became aggressive and attacked the officer's supervisor who had joined him in cells to assist with the booking along with the jail guard. He tried to reach for the supervisor's gun and then lunged at him physically. He was grabbed essentially in a headlock by the arresting officer and taken to the ground where a ground fight ensued while the supervisor tried to get handcuffs on the man and the guard tried to control his legs. Oh, and I should mention Jonker weighed 288 lbs. and neither officer topped 190.
He was a rugby player and coached the sport at the local high school. Suffice to say he was a physical challenge for the officers.
During the ground fight Jonker went limp, the officers flipped him over and observed he wasn't breathing. They immediately began CPR and called EHS. Jonker was airlifted to Victoria where he died in hospital a week later.
Now, I should add that ground fighting is part of every police officer's training. In the RCMP members are in the gym wearing judo gi's. They sit back to back on the floor mat and on the instructor's call, begin fighting, using any method, trick or tactic to get the other guy to tap out. There are no rules to ground fighting, save and except to get control. The object is to win, to survive. Cops don't start fights, but their very life depends on their ability to finish them.
It's tragic that Jonker died. It's equally tragic this member had the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) investigation and possible criminal charges hanging over his head for as long as this. 34 months from the date of the incident to the day CJB finally issued a statement saying he would not be charged with manslaughter or criminal negligence causing death.
I should also add there was no mystery in any of this. There was a CCTV video system in operation in the detachment cell area and virtually all of the confrontation was captured and available for analysis.
Two police use of force experts were called in by the IIO, one with the RCMP but a different detachment and the other from the Calgary Police Service. Both said the use of force was appropriate and consistent with their training.
What could possibly take 34 months – nearly three years – to determine that this officer was simply doing his job? Jonker got "horribly drunk" as stated by his wife. He was aggressive and violent as indicated by his daughter in her 9-1-1 call and the fact the family had to flee the house. He was uncooperative and aggressive in the cells. He tried to take the supervisor's gun and attacked that officer. He was pulled off of him by the subject officer and taken to the floor where to control the big man there was a ground fight the likes of which occurs in every jurisdiction in this country on a daily basis. I wish I could say it's unusual, but it's not.
In most of these incidents police are able to gain control of the suspect. But, sometimes bad things happen and occasionally people die as a result. But it is always the result of their own choices. The choice to use drugs, alcohol, use violence against the police, being fat are the usual contributing factors. That's reality.
But there's nothing complicated in any of this. What could possibly have taken 34 months for the IIO to submit a report to crown and crown to review to determine this officer did his job in accordance with the law and with his training?
Why keep the family of the deceased and the officer and his family hanging for so long? It is unprofessional and reeks of incompetence or worse, a fruitless effort to find something, anything, with which to charge a police officer.
This isn't justice.
Tagged with IIO, justice, police, politics, RCMP, training
Successful campaign, but bitter feeling lingers
Two weeks ago we started a GoFundMe campaign for Cindy Millington to help her through a tough time while her husband, RCMP Cst. Kwesi Millington, was serving his 30 month sentence after being convicted in a trumped-up charge of perjury.
After running for a week, we had surpassed the target goal of $10,000 and moved the goal to $12,000. Well, that too got passed. I spoke with Cindy and she was overcome with gratitude. We decided to let the campaign run through the long weekend then close it with a big thank you to all of you who supported Cindy. We then started the withdrawal process.
I then left for a pre-planned week in the desert playing golf with some of my retired former VPD friends. When I arrived at our hotel, I received a message from the GoFundMe Community Management Team saying, "It has come to our attention that your campaign may not be compliant with our Terms & Conditions." They then proceeded to tell me the campaign was suspended pending a response from me.
I promptly responded explaining the situation and said the money was being raised for Cindy to help with the household bills and mortgage payments while her husband was unable to earn money and her salary alone would not cover everything. In the interim, I began getting messages from folks who were trying to donate but the site had been taken down and they were asking why.
I subsequently got this reply from GoFundMe: "Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that your campaign is in violation of the following line from our terms: "the defense or support of anyone alleged to be involved in criminal activity."
Criminal activity? I was stunned.
What followed was a back and forth to ensure Cindy would be able to collect the donated funds and I'm pleased to say that Cindy has now received an EFT in the amount of $14,136.24.
When Cindy told Kwesi of the campaign he was very moved. Cindy said, "I told him how you created the campaign and it's been flooded with donations. When I told him we were at $10,000 he said, OMG, I'm gonna cry, that's amazing."
While alls well that ends well, I suppose. But I'm still miffed at GoFundMe for the account suspension citing "the defence or support of criminal activity." This was anything but. Kwesi Millington got steam-rolled by a system looking for scapegoats for political purposes and an employer that stood mute and did not come to the defence of the YVR Four.
Clearly by using the phrase "It has come to our attention…" indicates they got a complaint. Who would complain over this type of campaign? I don't know. Maybe an anti-police type?Perhaps someone who doesn't like inter-racial couples? A seniour member of the RCMP who did not agree with my criticism of the Force in this? Who knows?
But, what I do know is the policing community and those who support police came together and supported Cindy and the campaign for the week it ran and I guarantee you not one of those who donated in any way, shape or form defend or support criminal activity. It's a nonsensical position taken by GoFundMe but at least they allowed Cindy to collect the donated funds, less their commissions of course.
I will stay in touch with Cindy and try and update you on how Kwesi and Monty Robinson are doing as I get updates. Again, thank you to all who supported this campaign. Your generosity is truly humbling and appreciated.
Tagged with crime, government, justice, Kwesi Millington, leadership, media, police, politics, RCMP, support, YVR


text:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace IPTables.Net.Iptables
{
    internal class IpTablesRuleDefinition
    {
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub