ORATO PLAYS the BLAME GAME

Oldtown News
Vancouver, BC

ORATO PLAYS the BLAME GAME

A friend contacted me to inform me that the local online rag, Orato, was once again through one of its citizen correspondents, really distorting the reporting of the Pickton trial. My friend suggested I go read the piece to see for myself, how misinformed the Orato citizen correspondent is.

I read the latest piece by Ms Pauline Van Koll who professes to be a friend of our former Mayoral candidate, Jim Green (not James Green), who in previous articles, gushes on about how much Mr. Green is a doer for the Oldtown neighborhood.

Ms Pauline Van Koll, writes about the latest testimony of crack-addicted and former resident of the Pickton farm, Lynn Ellingsen, who is providing evidence against the accused. Van Koll sympathises with Ms Ellingsen, painting a rosy picture of how courageous Ellingsen must be--taking the stand-- knowing how everyone in the courtroom must think of her-- considering her drug addiction and other assorted problems. Ms Van Koll then goes on to say how the other crown witnesses have also been brave since she can imagine what others in the courtroom think of them.

This writing of Ms Van Koll's makes me want to puke. I've seen this type of thinking so often. Its called the blame game. Continually putting yourself in the victim role and how everyone is out to get you or look down their noses at you, as Ms Van Koll states, is pure hogwash. Really what all this victim crap mentality does is make you irresponsible. As long as you put yourself in the victim role, you don't need to take any responsibility in life.

What Ms Van Koll conveniently overlooks in all her writings to date, with respect to the crown witnesses is how all of them remained silent about the heinous murderous rampage on the Pickton lands. They allowed their silence to be bought for crumbs, well actually, drugs, cash or employment. Even now we are learning how the Investigative team is paying these same witnesses for their testimony and as a result I'm certain the jury will be having extreme difficulty determining whether the witness is credible. This has nothing to do with them being a sex worker or drug addict but whether they are willing to lie in return for generous financial payments.

The fact that none of these witnesses--not one-- came forward while crimes were being committed is reprehensible. How they can live with themselves knowing that they were part of some evil plot is disgusting.

Yet here is a citizen correspondent, herself a self-professed 'former addict' claiming how hard done by these crown witnesses are. This individual, who is a friend as I mentioned of Jim Green also had the nerve to attack my work on behalf of sex trade workers, yet here she is gushing about how courageous these evil doers are. She even professes their innocence.

Giving the final word to Ms Van Koll in her latest opinion piece she states, "there is nothing that can be done to stop any one of these girls from destroying their lives". Talk about a TWISTED MIND and it just goes to show you to what level a low-life will stoop to. Well at least she's in the company of one Jim Green. Perhaps he can help her.

Oh an interesting tidbit, is that Orato, owned by Mr. Sam Yehia, donated significantly to the campaign of Mr. Jim Green.

Shame on Ms Van Koll and shame on Orato for spewing this garbage. And if Jim Green is smart, he'd distance himself from this mounting pile of crap.

Jamie Lee Hamilton
tricia_foxx@yahoo.com