Good Cop, Bad Cop

I heard a rather telling statement on the radio today. In many of the cities here in North America there is a group of people who are "occupying" a small chunk of it in protest of life in general. Fine, for what the protest is all about, I agree with the concept of what they are doing - not what they are doing.

Here in Victoria, there is a group camping out at the green space beside City Hall. On the news cast it was reported that this "occupation" has cost the city, meaning me and all those property owners, $60,000 with a break down of 10k for garbage clean up, 30k for city staff extra work and 20k for police overtime. $60k of money flushed and still it will continue to be pissed away.

There was a snippet from the local police station about that $20k, they get bitched at for taking too long to respond to a call and when they do get there to deal with what ever, POLICE BRUTALITY gets thrown at them. This from a group of people who have deliberately put themselves in a more dangerous situation.

People, you have got to stop with the bullshit. Cops are just like you and I - doing their best to get the job done. A dirty, thankless job that needs to be done. By and large they are a decent group of people, people who are good and really care. Yes, there are some bad apples in the mix, that same number of bad apples are in every mix of people. Unfortunately those are the ones we hear about, or at least that is how people want to portray them.

"Look at that brute of a cop, tasering that poor homeless man" was the cry. What wasn't repeated was the chain that poor homeless man was swinging around at people, nor is it reported that the brute of a cop had just had that chain wrapped across his forehead.

When was the last time you heard about that brute of a cop, holding the little kid who had just been beaten by a drunk parent?

When was the last time you looked at that brute of a cop and remembered that he had just seen some drunk mow a mother over with his car?

The next time you get pulled over because you were doing 60 in a 50 zone, look in the mirror. You knew what speed you were doing, you knew it was wrong. Don't look at that cop and say, "Haven't you got something worthwhile to do?" because the answer is yes, and if keeping you from speeding through a residental area stops one kid from being killed, that cop is doing something worthwhile

Cops have the toughest of jobs, let them do it without making it tougher for them.

The Magic Words

A la peanut butter sandwiches....nope, not that one
Hocus pocus.....nope, not that one either
Please.... ah, there it is


Please, smile and thank you will get you a long way along the great road of life.


"Hi, can you please help me?" will probably go a lot further in getting your issue dealt with than "Hey, get off your ass and fix this"


The smile is the second part of the magic. Walk up to that harried clerk, the person who has dealt with 20 cranky angery people and smile. The first reaction you will get is "oh, a nice person, someone who isn't going to yell at me because of some elses mistake. I will do my best for this person."


"Thank you" is the final element of the magic. That gives the over worked, under appriciated clerk a feeling of peace and happyiness and the thought that the job is worth doing and maybe, just maybe they can make a differance in someone elses life.


Go on, give it a try. You just might be surprised at how well it works

Safe injection sites and other crimes against society

It is good to know that drug users in Vancouver have a nice safe place to shoot up.

It is nice and warm, clean water and a nurse sitting there to help them if they OD.

How much is that costing you? 

That nurse, why does she sit there when she could be doing something important

like helping your friend survive a car accident? 

Why are we forced to pay for this to happen again and again?

Here in Victoria they hand out free needles to drug users and yet people who are forced to give themselves their own medical injections must pay for their own needles. 

The spread of this pandering to the the lowest common denomination must stop. How long will it be before one of these "people" we have paid to get high comes to your home and attacks you so it can get its next fix?

I have heard the term harm reduction. The money that gets shoved into these people each and every day can be used for something of value - like that lady over there with a small child who no safe place to call home. 

Tell your local public servant where you want your taxes spent. 

It is your money, they are there to serve you