Cdn-Firearms Digest Tuesday, March 29 2011 Volume 14 : Number 342 In this issue: Small Arms Survey: Private Security Companies Firearms Stockpiles Fw: The Race is On .... or Plus ca change - plus ca meme chose Lawyer in Manitoba judge sex scandal pleads guilty *NFR* Real Reason Gas Prices Are Soaring FW: [CSSA-CILA E-News] TEAM CSSA E-NEWS - MARCH 28, 2011 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, March 28, 2011 8:37 am From: "Dennis & Hazel Young" Subject: Small Arms Survey: Private Security Companies Firearms Stockpiles From: Small Arms Survey [mailto:noreply@smallarmssurvey.org] Sent: March-28-11 6:06 AM To: Dennis R Young Subject: NEW - Research Note 4: Private Security Companies Firearms Stockpiles The private security industry has come under considerable international scrutiny due to the highly publicized role it has played in Afghanistan and Iraq. Attention has mostly focused on questions concerning governmental oversight and these companies’ accountability. Research Note 4: Private Security Companies’ Firearms Stockpiles —based on a forthcoming chapter from the Small Arms Survey 2011 yearbook—examines private security company (PSC) firearm holdings: their scale and variation across settings. Information on PSC arms holdings is scarce and lacks precision. States that maintain firearm registration systems do not always distinguish between civilian- and PSC-held firearms. In some countries, PSC employees can carry their personal weapons while on duty, further complicating accounting. In other cases, personnel have been reported to carry illegal—thus unrecorded— firearms. These different factors make it particularly challenging to draw a comprehensive picture of PSC firearm holdings. PSCs in Latin America appear to be more armed than in other regions. A survey of the industry in Europe reveals that the proportion of PSC personnel that is authorized to be armed is about 40 per cent in Bulgaria, just under 25 per cent in Slovenia, Spain and Turkey, and below 10 per cent in Croatia, Germany and Sweden. Conflict-affected areas such as Afghanistan and Iraq experience much higher levels of PSC firearm holdings. In such settings, industry sources argue that maintaining weapon capabilities at least equal or superior to potential attackers’ is crucial. In practice, this translates into PSCs being armed at levels comparable to state security forces, as reports of more than three firearms per PSC personnel in Afghanistan illustrate. In contrast, law enforcement personnel worldwide hold an estimated average 1.2 firearms per officer, while the military generally keep more than one and sometimes as many as ten weapons per soldier. Download Research Note 4: Private Security Companies’ Firearms Stockpiles: www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/H-Research_Notes/SAS-Research-Note-4.pdf See also: • Parker, Sarah. 2009. Handle with Care: Private Security Companies in Timor-Leste (from East Timor Law Journal): www.timor-leste-violence.org/pdfs/Timor-Leste-Violence-Private-Security-Companies.pdf - More on private security companies: www.smallarmssurvey.org/armed-actors/private-security-companies.html - More Research Notes: www.smallarmssurvey.org/publications/by-type/research-notes.html - More Armed Actors publications: www.smallarmssurvey.org/publications/by-theme/armed-actors.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:12:23 -0700 From: "Todd Birch" Subject: Fw: The Race is On .... or Plus ca change - plus ca meme chose To: "Quesnel Cariboo Observer" Sent: Monday, March 28, 2011 9:11 AM Subject: The Race is On .... or Plus ca change - plus ca meme chose > The Editor > Quesnel Oberver > > Madam > > Once again we are caught up in the political farce we call a federal > election. The political opportunists in the opposition parties obviously > paid no heed to the 'man-in-the-street' interviews conducted by the > media prior to the dissolution of Parliament. Overwhelmingly, the > sentiment was: > "We don't need no steenkin' election ...!" > Predictably, the outcome will little change the power structure in > Ottawa, the risk to the opposition being the CPC gaining twelve more > seats for a majority. The backlash at the polls may not be sufficient > for a CPC majority, but voter anger might cost the opposition a few > seats. > > If the opposition backroom boys had any political smarts, they'd be > pushing for some form of proportional representation to replace our > 'first-past-the-post' system. For those unfamiliar with that term, it > means that the party that nets 40% of the popular vote gets to form a > majority government. With a low voter turnout, that means a small portion > of political activists settle the question. Surprised? We've been > suffering under this archaic system since 1867; the last so-called > democracy to use it. > Coupled with the fact that once Quebec and Ontario vote, it couldn't > matter less how the west votes if a party gets enough seats in Upper and > Lower Canada. > Sir John A. would be proud of his legacy. > With proportional representation, the opposition parties would likely > gain more seats, negating the need for that frightful "C" word - > Coaltion, the very mention of which sends Canadian politicians into > fits of hysteria. It is also the only way for Green party leader > Elizabeth May to get a seat in the House of Commons. > > The incumbent party will not likely support a change to the system as the > current one put them in power. The political will must come from the > electorate, but we know that BC voters have rejected such a system - > twice - citing a lack of information on it's ramifications despite a very > active campaign of awareness. Adding it to the list during a federal > election would cost money, but $100-$200-$300 million, pretty soon you're > talking serious money ...... so what does some more money down the > political drain mean if we go for change? > Truly, people get the army, police and government they deserve and are > willing to pay for. > > Todd Birch > Quesnel, BC > 249-0170 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2011 11:14:50 -0600 From: Joe Gingrich Subject: Lawyer in Manitoba judge sex scandal pleads guilty *NFR* http://www.thestarphoenix.com/opinion/letters/Lawyer+Manitoba+judge+scandal+pleads+guilty/4515568/story.html Lawyer in Manitoba judge sex scandal pleads guilty Winnipeg Free Press March 28, 2011 WINNIPEG - A Winnipeg lawyer accused of pressuring a client to have sex with his wife - who is now a Manitoba judge - has pleaded guilty to three counts of professional misconduct. Jack King was accused of trying to coerce a man into having sex with his wife, Lori Douglas, in 2003. Alex Chapman said King sent him explicit nude photos of Douglas, who was a lawyer at the time in the same firm as King. She was named a judge two years later. King appeared before the Law Society of Manitoba on a charge of professional misconduct on Monday. King has admitted sharing photos with Chapman, but King's lawyer has said his client was depressed at the time and acting without his wife's knowledge. The hearing continues. Douglas is being investigated by the Canadian Judicial Council and has stopped hearing cases until the review is complete. © Copyright (c) Winnipeg Free Press ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:12:44 -0500 From: Lee Jasper Subject: Real Reason Gas Prices Are Soaring [I've mentioned this before. Speculators are causing 'phantom' gas prices. These folks sitting at computer terminals do nothing to add 'real value' to the economy but 'bet' on the predicted direction of crude prices. Their interests are divergent from yours and mine. Maybe this should be an election question to have ready for your gov't MP and especially for Mr. Flaherty if he happens by. I just paid $1.32 per litre for diesel fuel this morning at my discount gas bar]. The Real Reason Gas Prices Are Soaring By CHARLES WALLACE Posted 7:00 AM 03/28/11 > http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/the-real-reason-gas-prices-are-soaring/19893347/?icid=main|netscape|dl4|sec1_lnk1|207734 Have you ever wondered why when you go to the gas station to fill up the family car, the price of gas at the pump has just jumped 25 cents a gallon over the past three days? Perhaps you thought the oil companies were just being greedy. Or you believed the nightly news pundit who said that gas prices went up because the crisis in Libya was affecting supplies of oil. One professional oil trader says that you'd be wrong on both counts. Dan Dicker, who has spent nearly three decades in the oil market, has a profoundly disturbing explanation of why the price of oil, and the gasoline that comes from the crude product, has risen so dramatically in recent months. It turns out, Dicker says, that the price has nothing to do with supply and demand for oil. It's the financial market for oil, filled with both professional speculators and amateur investors betting on poorly understood oil exchange-traded funds, who have ratcheted up the price of gas to such sky high levels. "There is no supply issue going on here - what you have is the perception of the possibility of a supply issue," Dicker says. "A whole bunch of people are pouring money into an oil market trying to take advantage of what they perceive to be a real risk in supply. It's a marketplace that I argue should not be allowed to be wagered on like a stock or bond." Dicker notes that Libya produces only 1.3 million barrels of oil a day, just a tiny fraction of the world oil market. Even if Libyan crude were lost to the world market in the current turmoil, and there is no sign that it is, Saudi Arabia has 5 million barrels a day to use in case of an emergency. Dicker, who has just published a book called Oil's Endless Bid: Taming The Price of Oil To Secure Our Economy, makes a strong case that if the government stepped in and regulated oil trading so that only investors with a genuine interest in the physical product, such as airlines and heating oil companies, could buy and sell oil futures, then the price of oil would fall by 50% overnight and our economy would be much better off. Why Greater Regulation Is Needed "You have to make it so the original intent of commodity markets, to be used almost exclusively as hedging tools, is returned," he says. Though Dicker acknowledges that is not likely to happen, he points out that when the 2008 economic crisis froze all financial markets and investors stampeded to the sidelines, the true price of a barrel of crude oil became known: $32. It's now hovering at around $110 thanks entirely to investor demand, he says. One of the reasons Dicker is calling for greater regulation of the oil market is that no one really knows how large it is or what is going on it on a day-to-day basis. In fact, it reminds Dicker of the market for credit default swaps, which brought down the insurance giant AIG and forced the government into a $180 billion bailout. The market for oil traded financial instruments has been estimated at between $8 trillion and $30 trillion, but there are no concrete numbers because traders don't have to tell anyone how much they are betting either for or against the oil price. Dicker says if the government minimally required oil trading to be conducted in a transparent manner on exchanges instead of the current over-the-counter system, a large number of speculators would leave the market and the price of would fall sharply. He also notes that the major shift in oil trading has been relatively recent. First, financial firms such as asset managers and pension funds realized they needed to diversify their holdings of stocks and bonds, which had performed badly over the previous few years. The move was made easier by the arrival in 2006 of electronic trading of oil futures. The formerly cumbersome process of trading oil with a floor trader at the New York Mercantile Exchange was suddenly replaced by a streamlined process requiring only a few keystrokes on Chicago Mercantile Exchange's Globex computer platform. From a few thousand trades an hour at the old NYMEX, traders now process millions of trades an hour by computer. Dicker estimates the financial market for oil is 15 times greater than the amount of actual oil being traded, with 75 types of futures being sold on exchanges. That doesn't even include all the private, over the counter transactions that take place. "The amount of money pouring into hard assets, particularly oil, is outsized because it's new and fresh, so you get these outsized moves from $68 a barrel in the summer of 2010 to $100 now," Dicker says. **Why does all this trading drive up the price, when buyers and sellers should theoretically cancel each other out? Dicker says that is primarily because almost all oil investments being sold by the big investment banks are long trades - bets that the price will go up. While it's also possible to short oil ETFs, no one does. So that's heads ever skyward. "There is no shorting of the market and the commodity market is not like a stock market," he says. "It is not designed to have only one half of a trade. It is designed to inspire both halves, that's how you arrive at a correct price." Dicker gives the following example: Let's say you live in a neighborhood where all the homes are priced at $200,000. Suddenly an army of buyers arrives who want desperately to move into the neighborhood. You were not really interested in selling before, but now a buyer offers you $400,000 for your $200,000 house. What are you going to say? "That's what's going on in oil," Dicker says. "You have this army of people who have been flooding into a brand new neighborhood and they've had to inspire somebody to sell and the only way you can do that is pay an outrageous price for it." The Biggest Winners Among the biggest winners of the new oil markets are investment banks like Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS), which create new products for clients and then use that information to trade on the products. In 2004 and 2005, Goldman Sachs made $1.5 billion a year trading oil, Dicker says. In the first half of 2009 alone, **the firm made $3.4 billion oil trading profits. Firms like Goldman are not taking bets that oil will move lower or higher. Trading simply means naming a spread of buy and sell prices from which they can eke out tiny but regular profits, a business without risk. Dicker is particularly contemptuous of oil ETFs of the kind that many small investors have used as vehicles to diversify their holdings. "In these markets, they way they are set up, with all the edges with investment banks, the regular investor is just fodder," Dicker says. "The ETFs are the world's worst investment. They've only lasted this long because oil prices continue to rally." [Read this and weep]. So if gas prices would come down sharply with minimal regulation, why doesn't the government step in and impose limitations as it has done recently for other derivatives, forcing most firms to conduct their trading on exchanges? Dicker believes it is largely because large financial firms with a direct interest in oil trading have made so much money with oil that they can afford to lobby Congress to block any significant reforms. "Dicker reflects on his life as a trader before and after passage of the Commodities Futures Modernization Act opened up the oil markets to a flood of "dumb money." According to him, the "assetization" of oil, and the rapid growth of oil index funds and ETFs, has created an incessant upward pressure on the price of oil—the lifeblood of American industry. And that pressure has severed it from the practical realities of oil and the oil industries. Hence, "oil's endless bid." See: > http://www.amazon.com/Oils-Endless-Bid-Unreliable-Economy/dp/0470915625 [And Canuck corps were about to be given another 'tax reduction' making them one of the lowest taxed in the industrialized world. I just paid over $10,000 in capital gains on a recreational property I had owned for 17-years in which I had invested blood, sweat and tears. I can report that my capital gains tax rate was much higher then GM, Labatt's, RIM, Magna, etc. and I've also contributed my own tax dollars to them via grants, low interest loans, etc. via our Economic Action Plan]. And if skyrocketing fuel prices doesn't rot your socks, try this one on. The Floating Dollar as a Threat to Property Rights > http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2011&month=02 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, March 28, 2011 2:16 pm From: "Dennis & Hazel Young" Subject: FW: [CSSA-CILA E-News] TEAM CSSA E-NEWS - MARCH 28, 2011 FYI From: cssa-cila-e-news-bounces@lists.cssa-cila.org [mailto:cssa-cila-e-news-bounces@lists.cssa-cila.org] On Behalf Of CSSA-CILA E-News Bulletins. Sent: March-28-11 1:57 PM To: Team CSSA E-NEWS Subject: [CSSA-CILA E-News] TEAM CSSA E-NEWS - MARCH 28, 2011 CANADIAN SHOOTING SPORTS ASSOCIATION / CANADIAN INSTITUTE FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION TEAM CSSA E-NEWS - MARCH 28, 2011 LET THE GAMES BEGIN: May 2 is federal election day. The Canadian Shooting Sports Association is preparing a communications and advertising blitz that focuses on the ridings where opposition M.P.s flip-flopped on the September 22, 2010 gun registry vote. If we can win those ridings based on this single issue, we could help the Conservative government win a majority. A Harper majority would be great news for responsible gun owners because the party promises to forge legislation that no longer caters to the uninformed anti-gun lobby. You can help by donating to the CSSA Election 2011 Fund. Our communications blitz will be enabled by how much we can spend, so now is the time to help us help you! Check our web site at www.cdnshootingsports.org for details and please give generously. - ------- CALGARY "Stick to your Guns" DINNER POSTPONED:  This federal election requires all of the CSSA/CILA's undivided time and attention to work with our members and supporting candidates.  For that reason, we are must postpone the previously announced Calgary "Stick to Your Guns" Dinner scheduled for Friday, April 22. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. All those who pre-purchased tickets will receive their refunds shortly. - ------- TAKING CHARLIE ANGUS TO TASK: Bill Greenberg is giving it another go. The Timmins-James Bay Conservative Riding Association confirmed on Friday that Bill Greenberg is the Conservative candidate for the upcoming federal election. A resident of Timmins, Ontario, Greenberg is ready to represent Timmins-James Bay as part of the Conservative Government. The three major parties are now represented in the riding for the upcoming federal election with incumbent MP Charlie Angus... Greenberg cited the current political environment facing the riding of Timmins-James Bay as his primary motive for running. "The Liberal party has shown a total contempt for Northern Ontario. The New Democrats have ignored the issues facing us, and our current member, while claiming to fight for the north, has consistently voted against the interests of this region, putting the wants of his Toronto donors ahead of those who actually elected him.” (The Timmins Times – March 26, 2011) - ------- CONNECTICUT - SUBSCRIBING TO SMALLER MAGAZINES: Dozens of gun owners, firearms manufacturers and people who shoot for sport came to the Legislative Office Building Wednesday to criticize a bill that would make it illegal to own large-capacity ammunition clips — those capable of holding 10 rounds or more. Several people at a lengthy public hearing before the judiciary committee went on record in favor of the ban, including the mayors of the state's three largest cities, but critics vastly outnumbered supporters. Opponents said the measure is legislative overreaction to the Jan. 8 shootings in Arizona that killed six and critically injured U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Police said the alleged shooter, Jared Loughner, used a 33-round magazine. “This bill is nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction to a terrible incident in Tucson, Ariz.,'' said Leonard Benedetto, vice president of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, which has more than 1,300 members... Robert Crook, director of the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen, said the bill would have no impact on criminals yet “it makes instant felons of law-abiding citizens with a stroke of a pen.” (The Hartford Courant – March 23, 2011) - ------- BIG BROTHER WEARS BLUE IN B.C.: More than 85% of British Columbians are named in the province's police database, according to the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which warns citizens could be passed up for jobs and volunteer positions because of misleading red flags. The database - known as PRIME-BC - is designed to help police target repeat offenders, but is also used for criminal record and background checks for work with children, seniors and other vulnerable people. The database's "master name records" list includes names collected by police but not implicated in any crime. In some cases, the list includes people who simply reported a crime.  The RCMP say the information is valuable and necessary, and help police track repeat offenders. But the B.C. Civil Liberties Association said this week it has seen an increase in complaints from people who have had fleeting encounters with police years ago - everything from disturbance calls to traffic violations - that are now being held against them. (National Post – March 24, 2011) - ------- DIZZY TORONTO STAR STILL SPINNING: The federal Conservative government that oft laments the cost of the long-gun registry is giving up almost $21 million by cutting gun-owners a break on licence renewals. The 2011 budget that was tabled Tuesday allocated "funding of $20.9 million to continue to waive firearms licence renewal fees for all classes of firearms." That's five times what it costs to actually operate what Prime Minister Stephen Harper calls the "wasteful and inefficient" long gun registry. Under the Conservatives' ongoing amnesties, gun owners will not have to comply with the legal requirement to pay up to $80 to renew a licence from May 2011 until May 2012. (The Toronto Star – March 24, 2011) - ------- CAN BETTER FIREARMS LAW FINALLY BE IN OUR FUTURE? Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives begin an election campaign this weekend far ahead of their political rivals in public favour and would be poised to win a "comfortable" majority if Canadians cast their votes now, a new poll has found. The national survey, conducted exclusively for Postmedia News and Global National, reveals that voter support is declining for the opposition Liberals who have put forward a non-confidence motion that will lead to the defeat of the Conservative government in the House of Commons Friday afternoon. (Postmedia News – March 24, 2011 - ------- ELECTION READINESS: With the federal election set for May 2, responsible firearms owners are encouraged to find out which candidate supports firearms ownership, shooting and hunting. The shooting sports could be a pivotal issue in the coming election and the CSSA hopes you will help provide funding and volunteer assistance to elect M.P.s who support our activities. We need to help M.P.s who help us! - ------- SAFETY FIRST: Texas state lawmakers are considering a proposal that would allow workers to drive onto company property with guns in their vehicles. The measure has won approval in the Texas Senate by a 30-to-1 vote and is pending before the Texas House. Schools would be exempt. "We don't call it guns at work. We call it the commuter safety bill," said Alice Tripp, legislative director for the Texas State Rifle Association, the state affiliate of the National Rifle Association. She noted that 13 states have enacted similar legislation. (Vancouver Province – March 27, 2011) - ------- DON'T FORGET: "Stick to your Guns" CSSA Fundraising Dinners are being held in: *  London, ON – April 16, 2011 (CSSA Annual General Meeting) *  Calgary, AB - POSTPONED *  Pickering, ON – September 17, 2011 Call 1-888-873-4339 for tickets and details. - ------- IS YOUR FIREARMS LICENSE CLOSE TO EXPIRY? - ---------  The CSSA is the voice of the sport shooter and firearms enthusiast in Canada. Our national membership supports and promotes Canada's firearms heritage, traditional target shooting competition, modern action shooting sports, hunting, and archery. We support and sponsor competitions and youth programs that promote these Canadian heritage activities.   Joining the Canadian Shooting Sports Association is important and inexpensive! Be part of the solution. Help us oppose the anti-firearms groups that want to take away our sporting firearms. To join or donate to the CSSA, click HERE    - ------ To subscribe to CSSA-CILA E-NEWS, click HERE To unsubscribe, click HERE     To change your address or manage your subscription options, click HERE - ------- CANADIAN SHOOTING SPORTS ASSOCIATION / CANADIAN INSTITUTE FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION 7 Director Court, Unit #106, Vaughan, ON, L4L 4S5 Phone 905-265-0692  Fax 905-265-9794 Toll Free: 1-888-873-4339 E-Mail: info@cdnshootingsports.org    \Website www.cdnshootingsports.org ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V14 #342 *********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca Moderator's email: mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca List owner: mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca FAQ list: http://www.canfirearms/Skeeter/Faq/cfd-faq1.html Web Site: http://www.canfirearms.ca CFDigest Archives: http://www.canfirearms.ca/archives To unsubscribe from _all_ the lists, put the next four lines in a message and mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca unsubscribe cdn-firearms-digest unsubscribe cdn-firearms-chat unsubscribe cdn-firearms end (To subscribe, use "subscribe" instead of "unsubscribe".)