I was woken up at 2 am by the sweet first ever kisses from my newest rescue cat - Found.
It was so unexpected that I woke up and was WIDE awake. Part of the reason for that I guess is that I found it sweet - he really has adopted us! Anyway - I couldn't go back to sleep so I got up and started work at 2am. Man am I glad that I did. I had thought I would get a jump on some of the back log of work I have, but nope, not to be -there were easily 25 good articles in the news today!
There is such a wide variety of news today, a stunt that went horribly wrong in Brazil to a guy who has the most amazing drifting skills on a bike...an article on a 79 Honda cafe racer that has been converted to electric...very cool. On the Police One site there is an article on electric motorcycles as cop bikes I found pretty interesting...
In Toronto they are talking about taking away free parking for motorcycles
In Austin Texas - Motorcycle Medics are working out really well...
In North Carolina they are talking motorcycle noise - AGAIN...
The Triumph history feature linked here is very worth reading...
In the UK - Bohnams is auctioning off 50 motorcycles discovered in a barn.
There are at least another 10 - 12 articles that may prove of interest to some of you....check them all out at www.beltdrivebetty.com
Now for the story that has me wondering...You had to know I would pick on something to dissect!
A man with no criminal record and who has been a permanent resident in Canada for 40 years may be deported by our government because of a recent court ruling.
Before I get into this topic - please note, I am no lover of crime but I am definitely against profiling and this judges decision in my humble opinion is just that - profiling.
The man may be expelled from Canada simply because he was/is a full patched member of the Hells Angels. According to the article: "Mr. Stables said he left the bikers in 2009 but the IRB ruling noted that his gang tattoo still showed no “exit date.”
Begin Quote: "Mr. Stables admitted in court that he was a full-patch Hells Angel but he would not concede that the biker club is a criminal organization.
The judge, however, said the evidence was overwhelming that the Angels were “first and foremost” a group involved in drug trafficking, extortion, theft and murder.
“This is not a case where the applicant did not know the nature of the organization until it was too late – either he did not care or chose to be willfully blind to its activities,” Judge De Montigny wrote.
“Clearly, the framers of the Charter [of Rights] could not have intended that the applicant’s membership in the Hells Angels could be protected through his freedom of association and expression, despite the overwhelming criminal history of the organization.”
There is such a wide variety of news today, a stunt that went horribly wrong in Brazil to a guy who has the most amazing drifting skills on a bike...an article on a 79 Honda cafe racer that has been converted to electric...very cool. On the Police One site there is an article on electric motorcycles as cop bikes I found pretty interesting...
In Toronto they are talking about taking away free parking for motorcycles
In Austin Texas - Motorcycle Medics are working out really well...
In North Carolina they are talking motorcycle noise - AGAIN...
The Triumph history feature linked here is very worth reading...
In the UK - Bohnams is auctioning off 50 motorcycles discovered in a barn.
There are at least another 10 - 12 articles that may prove of interest to some of you....check them all out at www.beltdrivebetty.com
Now for the story that has me wondering...You had to know I would pick on something to dissect!
A man with no criminal record and who has been a permanent resident in Canada for 40 years may be deported by our government because of a recent court ruling.
Before I get into this topic - please note, I am no lover of crime but I am definitely against profiling and this judges decision in my humble opinion is just that - profiling.
The man may be expelled from Canada simply because he was/is a full patched member of the Hells Angels. According to the article: "Mr. Stables said he left the bikers in 2009 but the IRB ruling noted that his gang tattoo still showed no “exit date.”
Begin Quote: "Mr. Stables admitted in court that he was a full-patch Hells Angel but he would not concede that the biker club is a criminal organization.
The judge, however, said the evidence was overwhelming that the Angels were “first and foremost” a group involved in drug trafficking, extortion, theft and murder.
“This is not a case where the applicant did not know the nature of the organization until it was too late – either he did not care or chose to be willfully blind to its activities,” Judge De Montigny wrote.
“Clearly, the framers of the Charter [of Rights] could not have intended that the applicant’s membership in the Hells Angels could be protected through his freedom of association and expression, despite the overwhelming criminal history of the organization.”
Mr. Stables came to Canada from Scotland when he was seven years old.
After joining the Hells Angels in 2000, Mr. Stables held senior positions. For seven years, he was the treasurer of 10 of the Ontario Hells Angels chapters. Also, at one point he was a sergeant-at-arms, a position another court ruling has defined as being in charge of the security of a chapter’s members and clubhouse.
His immigration troubles began in November of 2006, when he landed at Vancouver International Airport and officials found Hells Angels paraphernalia on him.
Immigration and Refugee Board Judge Ama Beecham ruled in 2010 that he is not admissible to remain in Canada." End Quote
When the Government of Canada finally expelled Ernst Zundel from Canada they used many of the same arguments the judge in this case did. However there is one major difference between the two - Ernst Zundel was a well know hate monger/white supremacist
According to Wikipedia: "Zündel underwent two criminal trials in 1985 and 1988. The charge against Zündel alleged that he "did publish a statement or tale, namely, "Did Six Million Really Die?" that he knows is false and that is likely to cause mischief to the public interest in social and racial tolerance, contrary to the Criminal Code." After a much publicized trial in 1985, Zündel was found guilty. After his conviction, Zündel was able to have it overturned in an appeal on a legal technicality, leading to a second trial in 1988, in which he was again convicted. Zündel was originally found guilty by two juries but was finally acquitted upon appeal by the Supreme Court of Canada which held in 1992 that section 181 (formerly known as section 177) was a violation of the guarantees of freedom of expression under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The 1988 trial was notable for its reliance on testimony from individuals such as David Irving and Fred A. Leuchter, a self-taught technician in execution technology.[36] Leuchter's testimony as an expert witness was accepted by the court, but his accompanying Leuchter report was excluded, based on his lack of engineering credentials. In 1985, key expert testimony against Zündel's alleged Holocaust denial was provided at great lengths by Holocaust historian, Raul Hilberg. Hilberg refused to testify at Zündel's 1988 trial. Zündel was convicted in 1988 and sentenced to 15 months imprisonment by an Ontario court; however, in 1992 in R. v. Zündel his conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada when the law he had been charged under, reporting false news, was ruled unconstitutional.[37] End Quote
Mr. Stables, unlike Mr. Zundel, has never had any such back ground and yet faces deportation for the very same reasons as Mr. Zundel finally did.
After joining the Hells Angels in 2000, Mr. Stables held senior positions. For seven years, he was the treasurer of 10 of the Ontario Hells Angels chapters. Also, at one point he was a sergeant-at-arms, a position another court ruling has defined as being in charge of the security of a chapter’s members and clubhouse.
His immigration troubles began in November of 2006, when he landed at Vancouver International Airport and officials found Hells Angels paraphernalia on him.
Immigration and Refugee Board Judge Ama Beecham ruled in 2010 that he is not admissible to remain in Canada." End Quote
When the Government of Canada finally expelled Ernst Zundel from Canada they used many of the same arguments the judge in this case did. However there is one major difference between the two - Ernst Zundel was a well know hate monger/white supremacist
According to Wikipedia: "Zündel underwent two criminal trials in 1985 and 1988. The charge against Zündel alleged that he "did publish a statement or tale, namely, "Did Six Million Really Die?" that he knows is false and that is likely to cause mischief to the public interest in social and racial tolerance, contrary to the Criminal Code." After a much publicized trial in 1985, Zündel was found guilty. After his conviction, Zündel was able to have it overturned in an appeal on a legal technicality, leading to a second trial in 1988, in which he was again convicted. Zündel was originally found guilty by two juries but was finally acquitted upon appeal by the Supreme Court of Canada which held in 1992 that section 181 (formerly known as section 177) was a violation of the guarantees of freedom of expression under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The 1988 trial was notable for its reliance on testimony from individuals such as David Irving and Fred A. Leuchter, a self-taught technician in execution technology.[36] Leuchter's testimony as an expert witness was accepted by the court, but his accompanying Leuchter report was excluded, based on his lack of engineering credentials. In 1985, key expert testimony against Zündel's alleged Holocaust denial was provided at great lengths by Holocaust historian, Raul Hilberg. Hilberg refused to testify at Zündel's 1988 trial. Zündel was convicted in 1988 and sentenced to 15 months imprisonment by an Ontario court; however, in 1992 in R. v. Zündel his conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada when the law he had been charged under, reporting false news, was ruled unconstitutional.[37] End Quote
Mr. Stables, unlike Mr. Zundel, has never had any such back ground and yet faces deportation for the very same reasons as Mr. Zundel finally did.
I would like your thoughts on this subject...is this profiling or good immigration policies?
I leave you with a few funnies that have had me chuckling - shared by friends through Email and FB, thought you might enjoy a giggle to start your day too.
Have a fabulous HUMP day...
Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider
It's ridiculous that the same arguements are being used to deport a guy that's been here almost his whole life??
ReplyDeleteWHO CARES if he's a Hells Angel!! He's got NO criminal record!!
I know a few people that are Landed Immigrants with records as long as my arm, but are THEY being profiled and deported??? UMMM... nope!!!
*Shakes head in disgust**