Witness the behavior in another European democracy. In Athens, that ancient capital of culture, the strong men have institutionalized criminal behaviour. A kleptocratic regime has been falsifying Greek public accounts for years, and colluding with powerful unions in a sharing of the spoils. Now that the rat is out of the bag, possibly setting the European Community up for a domino like collapse of its shared economy, the Greeks are braying "Help us, Help us". Legions of soft and pampered Greek workers are demanding the "right" to retire on bloated benefits packages at age 55, and this week demonstrated the violence they will use to safeguard their "rights". Witness the firebombing of an Athens bank, and the immolation murder of three bank employees. Wow, the self righteous evil of it all !
Insert - May 18th. I caught a CBC Newsworld segment this morning which would make a cute Youtube moment. Fred Langan and Carole MacNeil were laughing their asses off at the absurdity of Greek pension legislation which allows citizens in "dangerous occupations" to retire on a full pension at age 50. No one would quibble that coal mining is a dangerous job(although some may doubt that coal is a Greece industry). Langan noted that the list of dangerous jobs in Greece is ludicrous, and includes TV news readers. The point is that taxpayers in several countries are being screwed over to provide billions for the Greek bailout - which is going to be squandered in thick bogus Greek pension packets. The horror!
How about our local shakedown culture? Isn't it more therapeutic to kick your own cat rather than throwing a shoe over the fence? The point is folks, that in a nanny state like England or Greece or indeed our own socialist British Columbia, crime evolves or adapts to exploit the modernized habitat. In a socialist country leaders will toil like Trojans to grab and hold power, for decades if they can. Their loyal followers (we call them supporters here) compete over a rich menu of government benefits. They are the "cheque people," those who cannot exist without subsidy or have adapted to life as a total dependant.
March 31, 2009 - a CTV news chopper hovered over a parking lot in Gibsons, B.C. where an RCMP officer had just shot an angry woman in the parking lot outside an assisted living facility. This is her wheelchair and blood. On March 31, 2009 the local CTV news affiliate broadcast dramatic footage from "Chopper 9" which was hovering over the location of a multiple shooting. The gunman was already down and emergency crews were swarming the site. The shooter, we learned next day, was Linda Lorraine Howe, the resident of an assisted living facility in a bedroom community northeast of Vancouver. Howe, who was allegedly wheelchair bound, had been resisting all attempts to evict her from a subsidized unit in the complex, going so far as to circulate a petition among residents. After shooting the manager she loaded a wheelchair with her weapons and carjacked a vehicle in the lot outside. There an RCMP trooper knocked her down with his service pistol. Interviewed a few days later, her father laid the blame for her behavior on a head injury sustained in a car accident. Mr. Howe's remarks were almost as confusing as his daughters behavior:
The interesting facts which emerged in court testimony are that while she was injured in 2007 she had been occupying the assisted living unit since Dec. 2006. In other words she had a history of playing the system, which predated the accident. At the time of her arrest I commented in this Blog that I found fault with any man who would place weapons into the hands of a woman with emotional problems. This week we learned that there was a further chain of incompetency involved. This woman was clear enough in her thinking to prepare an armed defence against eviction, and even managed to assemble an arsenal in her room even though though her room was video monitored. I am reminded of Winston Smith in Nineteen Eightyfour who sat in his alcove with his back to the telescreen writing "Down with Big Brother!" I conjure an image of Linda sitting in her suite reading Orwell's novel, with a smirk on her face. (see my footnote)
Linda Lorraine Howe - a tight cropping from a Dec. 2008 snapshot. In March of 2009 Howe refused to submit to eviction from a care home she was ineligible to occupy. She shot the attendant who was serving final Eviction Notice. Her trial continues in B.C. Supreme Court.This week Howe is being tried in the B.C. Supreme Court. It's all rather routine and she may never utter a word in her own defence. It only remains to be seen whether she will "do a little time" behind bars or perform a little penance in a group home. Either way, she remains a ward of the province. Actually she is minor figure in this piece. The testimony of a score of heavyweight groups and agencies will fill the trial transcript.
What I did find remarkable in the limited coverage of the trial, was testimony concerning the CCTV camera system installed in the residential complex. The idea that Howe's room was video monitored I find repulsive. (No mention was made of audio pickup.) How does a resident manage to exercise the urge to cuddle, pick their nose or masturbate, if there is a camera? To my way of thinking, the denial of privacy was just as dangerous a catalyst for violence as the threat of losing the subsidized housing she had grown dependant on.
What the nominal leaders of this province will never understand, (until a disaster turns off the energy supply for a week or two or our economy implodes), is that social engineering has not created a stronger more resilient B.C. population, but rather a community of selfish interests which is going to react very, very badly if any attempt is ever made to have them resume greater responsibility for their own lives.
Testimony supporting the charge of attempted murder in a nursing home: Video surveillance exists INSIDE each bed unit of a B.C. licensed care facility in Gibsons ! and yet intrusive surveillance failed to detect a long term, angry resident caching weapons in her room... two rifles, a pistol, knives, etc ???!!!If a disabled 40 year old woman could create such havoc, imagine what thousands of healthy young men and women are capable of accomplishing if they reject our society's values and laws? Come to think of it, have not the 60,000+ veterans of the B.C. drug economy already served us warning?
Update May 15 - testimony in court yesterday disclosed fresh information including the fact that the video monitoring system active in the defendant's suite was installed by Ms. Howe herself, in attempt to catch staff should they mess with her property. As I am no Winston Smith, I will just add this footnote without altering my reference to Orwell's novel.
For a CARE official to make a point of telling a news reporter that it was "strictly a new-commodity agency purchasing in bulk" leads me to believe that there was controversy at the time involving CARE's procurement practices. 
The comedy setup was to get some volunteers to gift wrap boxes, and then... well you know John. Out came the moose antlers, and much more. The six minute clip is an entertaining Blast from the past. Check it out at:
