Calling out the BAD GUYS

Page Six isn’t going to win any investigative reporting awards with my written words, however reflecting what is going on Edmonton streets certainly is a priority of mine.

As such I’m ‘really pissed off’ at the current Edmonton murder rate.

Now my brother Gerry in Calgary and I are proud to have the “Battle of Alberta” on everything from CFL and NHL to ping pong but winning the whacking rate by such a huge margin certainly isn’t pretty for me/us.

My condo in Arizona is under the jurisdiction of a gent by the name of Sherrif Joe Arpaoi – and he is known as the ‘toughest lawman in all of North America.” He’s 83 years old and has no plans to retire in the near future.

He has many claims to fame including putting the prisoners in “pink underwear.” When asked Why his answer is succinct. “Cuz they don’t steal ‘em!”

When people claim he’s racist for arresting a large Mexican population he quickly states – “I understand the concern so lets go to the actual facts. A full 85% of the criminals ‘convicted’ in Arizona are here illegally, and from the border just south of here. So I guess that makes ‘me’ a racist!”

Prisoners are often put on ‘chain gangs’ and go around the county cleaning up along the roads and highways and if you’ve ever been to Phoenix I’m sure you’ll note how incredibly clean it is. These prisoners live mostly in ‘tent city’ – which has ‘no’ air conditioning when it’s plus 100f degrees outside. I doubt if they have room service!

He gives them 'ice' to sit on during these summer heat waves.


My point is “we’re just too damn nice to our criminals here.”

When I hear the people in power in our city say it’s a ‘safe’ city and that their plan to make it even safer is to ‘ban knives’ – I cringe. Do that right after you ban speeding or texting would you?

Next, the young offender act needs some major “go to your room” time. I suggest that “IF your son or daughter does the crime that DAD or MOM does the time.”

Maybe then Pop’s and Mom’s will pay a little more attention to the gang their kids are hanging around with and when they do bed checks at midnight the intent is to see that the little punkin’s are safely at home or playing XBox where they belong instead of breaking into the neighbours home or car.


If Little Johnnie is 23 years old and driving a brand new hopped up Caddy Escalade with “Little Wayne” playing on the sound system so loud that you can hear it 3 blocks away I can pretty well guess that he didn’t make his cash delivering the Sun or working at McDonalds.


C’mon parents – if I hear one more “he’s such a good kid – he just started to hang out with the wrong crowd” I’ll throw up.

And one word for 18 year olds with 3 kids – “condom.”

As Crosby, Stills and Young wrote ‘back when music was good’ – TEACH YOUR CHILDREN!

And ‘half way houses” – close ‘em.

You're either IN the slammer or OUT - not 'half way' in or out - or 'gone.'

If you do your full time in the BIG HOUSE then you get out to go to YOUR house – not a nice comfy spot with a big screen tv, three squares, and a bunch of other ‘really nice fellows’ that you can walk away with because there’s not adequate supervision.

And to our civic leaders who say ‘don’t worry - it’s a safe city' - when there’s a gun battle happening in the parking lot while I’m chowing down on an Earl’s bigger better burger in broad daylight then I’m sorry but I just don’t buy it.

I understand we’re arming up with more Detectives but until we get harder on ALL crime in Edmonton - in Alberta - and in Canada then I think we’ll continue to see the totals gaining at this unprecidented rate.

In Florence, Arizona, just down the road there’s a shop at the end of the property where arts and crafts that are made by the inmates are sold. There’s actually some really nice stuff there. When the prisoner gets out he/she gets the profit from the sale of their stuff to have some money to live on instead of reoffending because you’re broke from being behind bars.

Plus it's a way better use of a knife to carve out a nice statue instead of your 'cell mate.'

There – I feel better. And as you read this I’m in Arizona – buying some famous pink underwear to help support Sherriff Joe!

My Old gig is open! Congrat’s to Astral Media’s Stewart Meyers who is heading back to Calgary to run CJAY - Classic Country - and Virgin Radio there after replacing me a few years back here at The Bear - Virgin - and Team 1260. They are currently hunting for a replacement.

Guest appearance

Here's a quick update on my daughters health situation and a new site she has started to "help others." She's a strong kid and I'm damn proud she continues to focus on helping people understand the magnitude of this strange and debilitating disease!

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What do rapper Missy Elliot, 41st president George H. W. Bush, famous Italian mobster Sammy Gravano & Rayanne Forbes all have in common?

They were all struck by the cruel “Graves Disease”.

Haven’t heard of it?

Neither did I until 2:07am July 19th of 2010.

My name is Rayanne Forbes & that morning was the beginning of the worst year of my life. After spending a night in the hospital with breathing difficulties, heart palpitations & giving blood; I was diagnosed with Graves Disease.  

It strikes the young, the old, the rich, the poor & the unsuspecting. You may have it and not even know it. This disease takes charge of almost every aspect of your body and because there are so many symptoms it is easily confused with other health problems.

The popular "Work It" hit-maker Missy Elliot has recently made public her battle with the Disease saying; "You live with it the rest of your life. I couldn't write because my nervous system was so bad. I couldn't even use a pen."

Elliot was diagnosed with the disease in 2008 and has been receiving radiation treatment to help alleviate symptoms like dizzy spells, lumps in her throat, mood swings, hair loss, and bulging eyes.

Graves Disease is an autoimmune disease where the thyroid is overactive, producing an excessive amount of thyroid hormones. Symptoms of Graves Disease can cause a dramatic neuropsychological and physical signs and symptoms.

Graves Disease is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism in children and adolescents, and usually presents itself during early adolescence.

It has a powerful hereditary component, affecting up to 2% of the female population, and is between five and ten times as common in females as in males. Symptoms include- but are not limited to- a rapid or irregular heartbeat, tremors of your hands or fingers, anxiety, irritability, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, protruding eyes, an increase in perspiration, sensitivity to heat, weight loss & brittle hair.

Although managed through medicine, radioactive iodine treatment or surgery; once diagnosed, you have Graves Disease forever. If you think you may have this Disease ask your doctor to send you for simple blood work to rule out the possibility.

With such little information available online for newly diagnosed people like me I began blogging about the trials and tribulations I went through for other people to look to for inspiration during this seemingly endless fight.

Countless hospital visits later, 8 months off work, daily handfuls of pills & one thyroid removal surgery later I was feeling overwhelmingly alone in my experience so I recently created the "Edmonton Graves Disease Support Group on Facebook" for other sufferers to meet with each other & discuss their stories.

If you are looking for more information or would like to contribute; please do as I am always updating the page!