Archives for January 14, 2021

On January 14th the Town of Osoyoos marks the 75th Anniversary of its incorporation.

The Town of Osoyoos – its incorporation on January 14th, 1946 the Town was governed by the Board of Trade (later called the Chamber of Commerce).

The Municipality of the Village of Osoyoos held its first official meeting at the CPR Station on January 31st, 1946, where William Andrews was elected Chairman of the Board while Gordon Kelly and Joseph Armstrong were elected as Village Commissioners.

Love to know if this is the same Bill Andrews, CPR agent in Oliver.

George Fraser ??

Stu Wells ??

Watching the events unfold south of our border should serve as a sober second thought for us here at home.  We have a lot of people with anti Semitic views or reserved silent hatred for others of color, religion, and political views.  It is true, these views have always been part of the equation.  The difference is, we are getting to see what happens when hatred and political violence in all its forms goes unchecked.

Yes the summer of discontent saw demonstrations, even some looting and property damage and it should not go unchallenged in the courts.  Some say what happened in Washington is no different.  Not so and for a number of reasons here is why.

First this was not a demonstration or riot.  It was in fact an attempted coup d’etat,.  As the dust clears we see the pieces of a conspiracy linger in the dust of the empty halls.  FBI and the Department of Justice are piecing together a more focused picture of events.

The police were outnumbered and bravely did what they could. There were some that have been detained as possible willing participants.  It is coming to light some may be retired service folks (more about the fallout later)  

They are now investigating, information that some staff or even politically elected members allegedly giving tours of the building the day before.  Two points here all visitor tours were canceled due to COVID.  It is being investigated as a possible reconnaissance mission the day before.  Policing authorities don’t charge or contemplate charging people with sedition or conspiracy for no reason.

There is one other factor here that is not overly mentioned.  The area is a crime scene, a murder scene where these loyal Trump supporters beat a police officer to death with a fire extinguisher.  Some point and say, a young woman was shot at point blank range and sadly it is true.  What they fail to say is this young woman was involved in an insurrection for the purpose of hurting others, and did in  fact cause serious injury and death for others.  

So what did these violent mobsters do?  These people who claim to stand for law and order used bats, metal pipes, flag staffs, and anything else they could find to beat police or any other person who opposed them.  They were intent on killing those who were doing the governments business and they intended to ensure Trump would remain in office.  As Rudy Giuliani said lets have ‘trial by combat’. 

Not exactly words for a peaceful demonstration.

Even sadder is the possible outcome for brain dead mobsters who were promised their leader would be with them.  In fact he hid in the White House watching it unfold on TV.  This is not the end it is the beginning.  The charges are mounting and will be brought down after the new administration takes over.

I have been listening to serious possible actions in addition to the obvious.  Retirees can be court martialed for crimes they committed after leaving the service.  That was a Supreme Court decision handed down prior to this incident and involving another offender.  Those in positions of trust, off duty police, firemen, lawyers, elected government officials can be arrested and charged with sedition and conspiracy.

For the mob participants things will get worse.  Some are losing their jobs as they are identified.  Those in professions will likely face disciplinary action losing their careers..  Many will face prosecution and jail time.  From professionals to soccer moms indicted, defending a pathological liar. 

As sad and tragic as it is for democracy and the rule of law it is also sad for the families of these offenders as they in many cases become victims too, especially children.  The sad truth is, this is what happens when we don’t pay attention to radicalization in a nation.  In many cases it starts when civil discussion breaks down and polarization in politics exists for long periods of time.  Can you imagine Liberals, Conservatives or New Democrats behaving like this if they lost an election?

On the other hand the single greatest impediment to our security is to blindly state “It could never happen here.”

Fred Steele