Winnipeg's Thug Life underworld has just claimed three more victims. But it's not the number, it's the escalation of violence that should send fear throughout the city. Five months ago, The Black Rod exposed the links between six murder victims and local gangs that have styled themselves after the Bloods and Crips of Los Angeles. See the whole story at http://blackrod.blogspot.com/2007/10/crips-and-bloodz-true-cultural-anchors.html Each victim was either a member of a gang or a close associate. But the latest murder victims were neither. Only one had a loose association to a gang as far as we can tell so far. In other words, the violence has spread beyond the gang world into the general community. Gang members and their associates are now living the life they see in gangsta rap videos and movies where shootouts are not only commonplace, they're expected. There's not even an attempt to keep from killing innocents anymore. The three people shot to death in an Alexande...
The origin of the Usher of the Black Rod goes back to early fourteenth century England . Today, with no royal duties to perform, the Usher knocks on the doors of the House of Commons with the Black Rod at the start of Parliament to summon the members. The rod is a symbol for the authority of debate in the upper house. We of The Black Rod adopted the symbol to knock some sense and the right questions into the heads of Legislators, pundits, and other opinion makers.