Barry Artiste Op/Ed
You know what really, really amazes me? That our government both Provincial and Federal can pass laws almost immediately in the case of Banning Trans Fat in Restaurants, yet for some reason Banning Gangs and implementing Serious Time for Serious Crimes takes close to a decade. One wonder if both the Provincial and Federal Governmnts have their priorities straight, when it is guaranteed and Restaurant caught with an ounce of Trans Fat in their food automatically gets a fine and a conviction, yet Gang Affiliation and Crime, gets a Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink!
Someone, somewhere must have an answer to this poser!
Food outlets such as restaurants and cafeterias could face fines if they don’t comply with the province’s plan to restrict artery-clogging trans fats by this fall.
Mary Polak, Minister of Healthy Living Sport, announced Saturday that B.C. will be the first province to restrict trans fat in the country. Under the new rules, oils and products used to prepare food must not contain more than five per cent trans fats, while margarines must contain less than two per cent trans fats.
Food inspectors will ensure compliance by checking trans-fat levels in food ingredients.
All establishments that require a permit to operate a food service in B.C. must comply with the new regulation by Sept. 30
Source: timescolonist.com
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Gang+fight+calls+united+front/1367323/story.html
Gang fight calls for united front
Times Colonist
March 8, 2009 3:07 AM
Neither is there a co-ordinated strategy to take down the gangs. Two years ago Vancouver’s retired chief of police, Bob Stewart, wrote a blistering critique entitled Police 2007: The Buck Stops Nowhere. While noting his family’s tradition of police service, Stewart lambasted law enforcement agencies for their “lack of professionalism, sound management or even simple common sense.” He pointed out that Vancouver is the only major city in Canada without a metropolitan police force.
Counting municipal detachments and RCMP units, there are 16 police jurisdictions in the Lower Mainland. Worse still, RCMP troops answer to national headquarters in Ottawa, while municipal officers report to local police boards. That means there is no unified command structure on the ground.
We saw an example of that last month, when B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal met with his federal counterpart to sketch out a campaign. The meeting was a bust. Oppal wanted changes in the Criminal Code. He says the current legislation makes it unduly difficult to prosecute gangland crime.
Vital means of surveillance, like wiretapping, are hindered by the code, and bail conditions are far too easy. But when Oppal asked for assistance, his request fell on deaf ears. The Criminal Code is Ottawa’s responsibility, and the federal government has its own priorities. Working with the provinces doesn’t appear to be one of them.
Below is an excerpt on a new concept called Life without Lawyers and the Death of Common Sense.
A must read for those just F**king Fed Up with Legal Stupidity in North America! Since the majority of Politicans in both our countries are lawyers, perhaps its time we elected Politicians based on Common Sense instead!
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1874370,00.html
Life Without Lawyers
By Alex Altman Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009
Life Without Lawyers: Liberating Americans From Too Much Law
By Philip K. Howard
The Gist: Bernie Madoff and Co. have, for the moment, dislodged attorneys from the doghouse of public opinion. But a world without tort claims and padded billing would still be many people’s idea of heaven. Howard, an attorney and author of the best-selling book
The Death of Common Sense, chronicles a society in which rules have run amok and litigation looms as a constant threat. Among his egregious examples: a Florida teacher wary of restraining a hysterical child gets the cops to slap handcuffs on the kid instead; a New York City high school prohibits nurses from calling ambulances without the principal’s permission; a town slide in Oklahoma is dismantled for liability concerns. “To restore our freedom, we have to purge law from most daily activities,” writes Howard. But this seething polemic is less about a society buried in paperwork than one that clings to procedure like a crutch — and has lost its capacity for independent thought in the process.
Tags: Canada | Washington | Ottawa | Vancouver | Crime | United States | World | Anti-gang law | stupid laws | gang crime | abolish lawyers | canadianpoliticans | trans fat in cooking oil