Dale's Covert Actions --- All are in the past, minor things, the statutes have run out. We all won.

Before posting any details, I wonder if any of the stewards would like to have a look at it. Is a short history of my personal activism for the benefit of all allowed to be discussed on the forum ?

Just thought I'd ask. Comfort zone ... Thanks Dale

Bump.

I received a message from on high today. My dastardly deeds must be submitted to one of our stalwart stewards for approval.

probably a good plan. I hope the stories can be told. If not here for liability reasons, you could set up a free blogger or wordpress page to publish your exploits.

I'm still hoping this happens one day.

Me too. I was looking forward to the sneak preview. And dreading having to make the decision on whether or not it was fit for publication...

Sorry for the delay. I've had many deletions and have lost a small orchard of apples In the process. They're picky sometimes. I will write up a pretty tame one soon and send it to her majesty.

I don't think the one entitled "how I used my sledgehammer to end smoking in certain spots" would pass. Too bad, it's a good story. I'll start off with spying which led to an investigation by the Ministry of the Environment and major trouble for a large polluter. Burra will approve.

My best story of dirty deeds done cheap has to do with a pre-Revolutionary cannon actually found in the river bottom sentiment close to a-not-too-distant state capital!
and A very innocent question regarding the testing of the mud it was Found buried in for PCBs. The test came back Extremely high!

Many, many years later it came out that a retest found almost no PCB contaminations, somehow the samples got switched with one of sediment in a pipe discharging
into that river ! 'Knee deep in the big muddy, and the damn fool says push on !' Thanks for the memories! Big AL

I look forward to hearing your stories Dale!

The powers that B --- meaning Burra, have approved this very tame one.

From my PM.
Dale Hodgins wrote:
I'm finally getting to the covert action thing. This one was totally legal and shouldn't be problematic.

In January of 2013, I got a welcome call from someone who I will not name. He had observed one of the city's worst corporate citizens loading drywall, which is supposed to be recycled, into a big demolition trailer. We suspected that they would cover it with something and take it to a private dump site.

I hustled over and got to high ground so I could film it. The drywall was covered with a thick layer of clean wood waste. There is only one reason why these materials would be mixed. Wood is easy and cheap to dispose of. It costs about $150 per ton to dump drywall. I filmed the loading process and then followed the truck to the dump site. We left the city and went over the Malahat pass to near the city of Duncan. Then the truck headed off the highway and down a back road and turned into the Indian reservation, where the load was dumped into a wood pile. This wood gets burned.

Once the video was edited and labeled, I passed a copy to another anonymous person. The Minister of the Environment picked it up personally from his job site. That's when I knew that it would be taken seriously. They launched an investigation into the whereabouts of massive amounts of materials that came out of several big demolition projects that the company did in the months preceeding the film. Cameras along the route, showed that over 50 loads went to Duncan. Some of the buildings contained asbestos which was unaccounted for. I will probably never know the full extent of the investigation or the consequences. I've been told that it's not over yet. I haven't heard about fines or other punishment, but the bad guys have had lawyers on it from the beginning. It has cost them money. It's been months since they took on a big demolition project. This means that those who recycle materials have more work.

I contacted several members of the Indian reservation. The open pit burn site is supposed to be for wood. It pollutes the land, air and water which belongs to all of the band members. Only a few benefit from the dump's activities. I will soon follow up on some phone calls, to see if anything has changed.

that's FANTASTIC. Right dude in the right place at the right time. With the right skills and pugnacious attitude.

How sad that this sort of thing happens all the time. There aren't enough Dales to go around.

Anxiously awaiting the next episode in this hopefully long series.

nathan luedtke wrote:that's FANTASTIC. Right dude in the right place at the right time. With the right skills and pugnacious attitude.

How sad that this sort of thing happens all the time. There aren't enough Dales to go around.

Anxiously awaiting the next episode in this hopefully long series.

Thanks Nathan. It helps to have several sets of eyes around the city. Two others called me and one took some good still shots. The whole episode may make it to YouTube one day after the legal wranglings are done. I got good shots of the company name. I want to wait until I have a good collection of videos, so that it creates some buzz. There are several other potential targets.

It was all supposed to be secret, but within three months of handing over the video, somebody blabbed. I've been told that a secretary with relatives in the dump business, warned them that they might be investigated. Divulging our names was illegal, but nothing will come of it. This may cost me some work, but it may win me some as well.

I'm very good at blending in. I can walk around with my video camera and appear as a bird watcher or tourist. I may borrow my friend's dog for some excursions. Although I'm only armed with a camera, there are times when this sort of thing turns violent. I'm more than prepared to bludgeon anyone foolish enough to attack me. A video that turns confrontational, gets a lot more hits. YouTube runs some pretty graphic videos where someone is defending themselves. I'll have evidence proving that I didn't start the altercation. I won't go looking for this, but it's always a possibility.

I have resisted my natural urge to narrate videos. For legal reasons, I'm letting the video speak for itself.

Given the amount of concrete/brick/log/rock that you move by hand on the daily, I think anybody who tries to tangle with the "camera dude" is biting off more than they can chew.

More Stories!

Yes, they would be inviting a hail of elbows and knees. That's only going to happen if there isn't a bat handy. I can't recall ever punching anybody. A leg sweep followed by a stomping worked in grade school.

I will soon submit a tale of justice served, for approval by her majesty.

Thanks for your work Dale! Looking forward to other stories.

This is probably the tamest one I will ever present.
.....
 There are many places around the city where the sidewalks sometimes need to be ground down at the joints,  when roots heave the slabs. This presents a tripping hazard. Elderly people in particular, are vulnerable to tripping in spots like that.

 I called the public works department a few times and they promised to get it done. Weeks later, the hazards remained. Then I got the bright idea to acquire some spray paint that matches the stuff that the city uses for marking sidewalks.

 A bright yellow line is quite obvious to the workers who cruise the area. I'm not sure if I'm fooling them, and they think that their superiors have marked the sidewalk, or if they think they're removing graffiti. Either way, the sidewalks are being ground to a nice smooth transition between slabs.

 It's much safer now and it gives me a an outlet for my covert nature, which is unlikely to get me into any trouble.

I dig it.

I think that cans of marking chalk are a great tool for this sort of thing. Maybe I'll start spraying around damaged irrigation lines, overgrown vegetation, broken sidewalks, damaged and missing utility covers, etc. See how long it takes for them to be dealt with.