For the first time since I was a child, I took a trip down to Minot North Dakota for a weekend getaway. And to be completely honest, I was completely taken aback at how much I loved it there. Sure I expected to have a good time, but I think I expected Americans to be more... I don't know.... xenophobic maybe? But whatever I expected, I had no encounters this trip to justify anything close to what I had preconceived!
There was a point in our trip where (as an outdoor enthusiast) I went into a local sporting goods store located in the mall, where I happened to walk by the handgun section to notice 3 customers purchasing assorted handguns. I happened to overhear one customer ask what it required, and to my utter shock, the salesperson said "do you have a driver's licence? Then you're all good". The one thing I didn't see during my trip, was any sort of fear, or violence. But it made me realize how the Canadian Government has oppressed the rights of ownership for average Canadians. So needless to say I was a little frustrated with my own Country.
My frustration made me go "off book" in one of the shops we were in, where after some friendly banter between a young saleswomen and my wife and I, I broached the subject of her opinion of conceal and carrying sidearms. Being a 25 year old young lady, I naturally assumed her to be an anti-gun Liberal. Boy did she blow my socks off (funny thing about that statement, we were in a shoe store! lol)! Not only was she pro-gun, SHE had a conceal and carry licence!!! She explained that she had gotten it for protection at 18 when she left home, and then proceeded to ask me about gun laws in Canada. I have to say I was both so embarrassed and furious at my Countries willful erosion of personal rights that it was getting hard to keep my voice moderate, but I managed to explain all the restrictions, to which she just shook her head and said it seemed "unreal".
Are we too willing up here in Canada to let our Government and it's officials run roughshod over our rights? How did we get to the point that we allow the Government and it's agencies to dictate ownership and self defense right to us? We have gone over the rails, sacrificing personal rights for the appearance of security by Government agencies.
Time to repeal the "do nothing" Gun laws (not all laws do nothing, I believe we should toughen penalties, and laws for crimes committed with a firearm, and allow self defense), to allow Canadians to be free.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Saturday, May 03, 2014
Racism, it may not look like what you think.
I have gleaned from social media that after the Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins in double overtime, with the game winning goal coming from P.K. Subban, that he was called names based on the colour of his skin. I'll be honest here, I was actually quite surprised. Why was I surprised you might wonder? I was surprised because his skin colour had nothing to do with their win or the Bruins loss!
I believe that because these "low brow" Neanderthals just had nothing else to blame their defeat on, they picked the lowest hanging fruit possible in their anger. It's hard to say if these cretins are like this all the time or not, but a couple things of note are 1. we can often say things we don't mean when we are emotional. And also contradictory 2. We often show our true nature when under the same emotions.
That being said, let me tell you a story of a hate crime perpetrated on myself due to racism. I was best of friends with an native individual in elementary school, until our last year. We would sleep over at each others houses, spent lots of time together, and I even spent time with him on their reservation. We had a great time together, or so I thought, but that all changed in our final year. The thing is that I hadn't changed over the summer, and I thought our friendship would pick up where it left off, but apparently I was no longer "worthy" of being his friend. Apparently now my skin colour was vile and loathsome to him and his new "friends", and they made it known to me in no uncertain terms one day. I got off with just a few bumps and bruises, but what hurt the most was not knowing what I had done to deserve being treated like that. Trying to figure it out as a 13 year old was not easy, and it took me years to understand that it wasn't anything I had done, The change was all in my one time friend, who now hated me for nothing more than the colour of my skin.
Sure minority groups have been oppressed and targeted in the past, but as personally I found out, Racism is not limited to race, creed, religion, or colour. Racism is a learned behaviour, whether actively taught, or through observational learning, it is being passed on, and it needs to stop. If the colour of someone's skin, or where they come from bothers you, you are probably one of the aforementioned cretins (which goes for everyone).
I believe that because these "low brow" Neanderthals just had nothing else to blame their defeat on, they picked the lowest hanging fruit possible in their anger. It's hard to say if these cretins are like this all the time or not, but a couple things of note are 1. we can often say things we don't mean when we are emotional. And also contradictory 2. We often show our true nature when under the same emotions.
That being said, let me tell you a story of a hate crime perpetrated on myself due to racism. I was best of friends with an native individual in elementary school, until our last year. We would sleep over at each others houses, spent lots of time together, and I even spent time with him on their reservation. We had a great time together, or so I thought, but that all changed in our final year. The thing is that I hadn't changed over the summer, and I thought our friendship would pick up where it left off, but apparently I was no longer "worthy" of being his friend. Apparently now my skin colour was vile and loathsome to him and his new "friends", and they made it known to me in no uncertain terms one day. I got off with just a few bumps and bruises, but what hurt the most was not knowing what I had done to deserve being treated like that. Trying to figure it out as a 13 year old was not easy, and it took me years to understand that it wasn't anything I had done, The change was all in my one time friend, who now hated me for nothing more than the colour of my skin.
Sure minority groups have been oppressed and targeted in the past, but as personally I found out, Racism is not limited to race, creed, religion, or colour. Racism is a learned behaviour, whether actively taught, or through observational learning, it is being passed on, and it needs to stop. If the colour of someone's skin, or where they come from bothers you, you are probably one of the aforementioned cretins (which goes for everyone).
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