SCARY!

 Troyswann said it, “Well, isn’t’ that just every Stephen King novel in one photo”.

Halloween is around the corner! Finally a day when my make-up is not out of place!

“Celebrities”, Thugs, Grief and Reality

Twitter away. It seems Entertainment is Life and Life is Entertainment.
I get it. We have become so enamored with “celebrity” that we have let them forget they are just hams.

In real life idiots are often criminals and visa versa, and they probably want to be celebrities. Most petty criminals like the one shot on Parliament hill are just stupid, self-centered losers. They get sucked into whatever B.S. they think will uplift them and imagine themselves in some righteous war. I am very sorry that this thug killed Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and that others were injured, and finally that he himself was killed. Yes, I am sorry that he was killed. If he was alive it might have been possible to find out that was really going on with him and if he had “buddies” who were involved.

But we must not confuse ourselves unduly with the sort of bizarre mix of rage and blasé that seems to be the steady diet of the American Media. And we must be aware of how our government will manipulate tragedy to garner war.

Honestly, I was more shocked by the killings at the Eaton Center two years ago.
• Male, 25, dead
• Male, 20, critical condition
• Male, 13, critical condition
• Female, no age given, serious condition
• Male, no age given, serious condition
• Female, no age given, serious condition
• Pregnant female, no age given, went into labour after being knocked down
• Female, no age given, grazed by bullet

I had been at the Eaton Center the day before. I thought, what is going on that the palace of overconsumption should become a battle ground? Well, conspicuous wealth is attractive to EVERYONE, it’s like sugar and fat, we are hard wired to like it, even stupid young men who think they are so entitled that they believe their grievance should countermand another human beings life. But there was no “other” to go after. No evil terrorist. He was our own son. Just as this idiot was. SO WHY, WHY, WHY? It was an injustice, like many in the world, that was considered “local”.  It got limited world play.  It didn’t fan any fiery agenda. Instead it drew attention to things that we didn’t want to address, like how we failed our youth because we forgot to teach our young men (and women) that there are things they need to learn, like patience, tolerance, hard work for lasting benefit, and putting others needs before ones own BECAUSE we THE ADULTS were too busy chasing after MORE and MORE and not tending to just nurturing ENOUGH, and honestly, not tending to them.

Hysteria, or calloused jokes might play better in the entertainment world, but sadness and grief are the reality. I would hate to see this used as an excuse for entering another international wild goose chase to line the pockets of war mongering moguls. Wait, didn’t Harper’s government already say they wanted in? Right. Well, at least we can still vote them out…

Several things went right. The gunman didn’t get to leave the country to go and join ISIS and an end was made to his rage. But also, the man he killed in such a cowardly fashion was a soldier, doing his job. I do not mean to diminish the loss of what seems to have been a really great guy, BUT HE WORE THE UNIFORM for us. He might not have expected it but, when he put on a military uniform, he said he was prepared to give his life and that is what Cpl. Nathan Cirillo did. He was killed instead of a civilian. He took the challenge of being a potential target. And that is why we all grieve, here in Canada.

That day was not a Wednesday or any other day, anywhere else, but here in our broken hearts it is the day we will remember. We will “stand on guard”, not for rage but for our very measured and thoughtful (better)Canadian selves.