RCMP Report vindicates Long Gun Registry

CANADA - Even advocates of scrapping the Long Gun Registry are rethinking your convictions now that the RCMP have released a report showing that the Long Gun Registry is a highly useful tool and is used 1,700 times per day by officers.

The report makes several very important points:

#1. The vast majority of firearm-related deaths in Canada are the result of rifles and shotguns — not handguns. Handguns do count for twice as many homicides as shotguns and rifles, but not all crimes are homicides. When you look at all gun-related deaths, homicides, accidents and suicides long guns count for two thirds of the total.

#2. Rural gun crime is a reality. Its not just big cities which encounter gun crime. Rifles and shotguns play a significant role in the "climate of control and intimidation” in rural society, especially amongst women surveyed who are often the victims.

#3. Gun control is working. In 1996, before gun reforms were instituted, 63 people were murdered with long guns in rural areas. By 2005 the number had dropped to 50. In 1996, 23 people killed their spouses (mostly women) with long guns. By 2007 that number had dropped to 8. The homicide rate has stayed relatively constant, but long gun deaths are down dramatically.

#4. Long gun registration and gun licenses are inseparable and necessary. The RCMP calls the registry “a critical component of the entire firearm program” which allows them to track legal sales of firearms. That way if they need to arrest someone with a warrant, they can check to see if they own any firearms before executing the warrant.

If anything the RCMP would like to see the registry become more robust. Police would also like to know where the weapons are kept and who has access to them. The worry is that people could steal unlocked guns and use them for crimes.

The minority Conservative government is trying to convince NDP members to vote in favour of scrapping the Long Gun Registry. They can't scrap the registry without support from another political party.

The Long Gun Registry costs less than $4 million per year to keep it going, but the RCMP and police chiefs from every Canadian jurisdiction credit it with saving hundreds of lives and helping to track down stolen guns and guns used in crimes.

Iraq War officially over, says Obama

POLITICS - “Operation Iraqi Freedom is over," says United States President Barack Obama.

The declaration was spoken in a live address from the White House's Oval Office, marking the end of American combat operations in Iraq after 7 years of inability to find Weapons of Mass Destruction and the USA presiding over a civil war being Sunnis and Shiites.

Obama praised American soldiers, but admitted they still have work to do in Afghanistan where he now plans to take troops on the offensive. The 50,000 troops currently in Iraq are scheduled to leave by the end of 2011. Some may leave sooner to be restationed in Afghanistan where they are needed for a growing offensive against Taliban strongholds.

The fate of Iraq's feuding Sunni and Shiite factions, to say nothing of the Kurds in the north will have to be dealt with through diplomacy. The toll of the Iraq War includes 4,400 American soldiers killed, almost 32,000 wounded and over 106,000 Iraqi deaths (Stats from Iraqbodycount.com).

Obama didn't assign blame for the Iraq War and its failings. “It’s well known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset. Yet no one could doubt President Bush’s support for the troops or his love of country or his commitment to our security,” said Obama.

On the topic of Afghanistan the President renewed his promise to drawback troops there in August 2011, which implies that if the USA still has works to do there it needs to be done more quickly and efficiently. "As was the case in Iraq, we cannot do for Afghans what they must ultimately do for themselves," says Barack Obama.

“The pace of our troop reductions will be determined by conditions on the ground and our support for Afghanistan will endure. But make no mistake – this transition will begin – because open-ended war serves neither our interests nor the Afghan people’s."

America's slow withdrawal of troops from Iraq also means that if war breaks out with Iran or North Korea that the USA will have more experienced troops they are able to draw upon in the event of such a conflict.

Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Trailer

ENTERTAINMENT - The Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Trailer... enjoy! Part I will be released on November 19th 2010 and Part II on July 15th 2011.

Manitoba Judge Busted in Sex Scandal

CANADA/SEX - A Manitoba judge, her lawyer husband, a man from Trinidad he tried to convince to have sex with her while the husband watched and 30 explicit photos... proof that you don't have to be a teenager to do something stupid.

At the centre of this sex scandal is Lori Douglas, an associate chief justice of Manitoba's Court of Queen’s Bench (family division). Her husband, Jack King, years ago allegedly repeatedly asked a client, Alexander Chapman, to have sex with his wife and even gave him 30 explicit photos of Lori Douglas (then a lawyer at the same firm as King). Some of the photos are described as containing bondage scenes.

In 2003 Alexander Chapman was finishing up a divorce and was in no mood for getting involved in someone else's sex life. He reports being disgusted when shown the photos. Following the completion of the divorce Chapman filed a complaint with the firm. King left the law firm and made a $25,000 cash payment to Chapman in 2003 in the exchange for the promise that Chapman not take legal action against King or his partners.

In the terms of the deal Chapman was to cease talking about the matter and to destroy all other evidence of the incident. Chapman signed the agreement, but decided to keep the items for safekeeping.

In 2010 Chapman decided to break his silence and reveal the photos because Lori Douglas is now a judge in Manitoba's family court and Chapman fears discrimination. He now says he intends to sue both King and Douglas for sexual harassment and discrimination.

(With a name like Jack King, who can be surprised he is not caught up in a sex scandal?)

Chapman says King convinced him to view a website devoted to black men and white women having interracial sex and that King was treating him like somekind of sex object in his goal of having him have sex with his wife.

In a letter to the Manitoba Law Society, King admits he met and discussed Chapman having sex with his wife, but only after Chapman obtained his divorce in April 2003.

Its believed Lori Douglas had no knowledge of her husband's attempt to organize an affair between Chapman and herself.

We all hear about teenagers doing stupid things with their cameras. This is proof that even hot shot lawyers aren't exactly smart either. ie. The Truth about Sextortion.

In other news...

RCMP Voyeurism

Four RCMP officers, two civilian jail guards and a third civilian employee in Kamloops have been caught watching two female inmates having sex in a Kamloops jail cell via CCTV. They reportedly did nothing to stop it. The RCMP has opened a criminal investigation into the incident.

The officers under investigation are a corporal, who was acting watch commander on the night of the incident, and three constables. The corporal, an RCMP officer for the past 20 years, was put on administrative duties when the incident was reported to his superior officer on August 23rd.

All four officers are also facing an internal code-of-conduct investigation.