What can be said about the Dawson College shooting that hasn't already been said? That monster who gunned down Anastasia DeSousa and wounded 19 others (2 critically) before turing the gun on himself wanted to be remembered as the angel of death. Bringer of death he may have been, but he was no angel. An angel is given a divine purpose from God. This shooting was not an act of God. It was pure evil in every sense of the word. There was no purpose to this. May God show him mercy, because he won't find any here.

Of course, we have to ask ourselves, what would motivate this young man to do such a thing? Violent video games? That must be it!

Experts argue video games -- not matter how violent -- should not be held responsible for Gill's actions.
"The world, as usual, is more complex than we'd like it to be," Ian Bogost, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, in Atlanta, Ga., told The Canadian Press.
Bogost said "Super Columbine Massacre" is an easy target for blame, but argued several deeper problems led to Wednesday's shooting spree.
"Certainly, Gill was using media of all kinds to culture his antisocial fantasies," said Bogost. "Should we hold (this game) responsible? Clearly, these are overly simplistic explanations."
John Pungente, of the Association for Media Literacy, said violence in the media is an old issue. In the 1950s, when gruesome comics were blamed for youth violence, the government created the Comics Code Authority to censor them. But comics no longer generate the same concern among today's parents.
"You can't blame the media," Pungente told CP. "People have been doing these violent things since before there was even media."

Death metal? That's also it! Hitler listened to Wagner and other classical composers. There's no shortage of terror leaders who revere the classic works of Shakespeare, Dante, and others. He was a member of VampireFreaks.com! That must be it! A website with over 600,000 members, and one commits a terrible crime! What are the odds? Goth culture! That's it! But every culture and clique has weirdos who pull shit all the time. Goths are just surrounded by an image that is dark, and therefore people fear it. Marilyn Manson knows this, and he exploits it to its extremes and the more people talk about it, the more attention he gets. People fear that which they don't understand. Just understand understanding. Help is there. Don't push people away. There is life beyond the school walls.

Just Understand Understanding....

If you woke up in the middle of the night
And in your bare feet you walked outside
And realizing that you were awake and that you could fly
Out over the world.

To places that you've only heard of
See faces that you were sold as murderers

But just like you they're only lonely boys and girls
Like all over the world.

What if you could lift them up?
What if you could make it so that times weren't tough?
So every morning when the world woke up, there'd only be weather on the news.

And what if you were back in bed?
With one of them floating over your head?
What do you say to your enemies
When you don't know what it is that could've been between you?

There ain't no blue skies over bad lands
Even if it ain't raining in the morning.
But you don't need to fly to understand it
Just understand understanding.

We Will Still Need A Song...

Typically, when it comes to axing school programs to save money, band and the arts are among the first to go. The people who make that decision are morons who have probably never played a note in their life. They probably listen to their soft rock hits on the commute home at 4:30 each weekday, but they probably don't put much value into what that music actually means, only considering that it's more interesting than listening to the engines of passing cars and the wind whistling by at 60km/h (although with some of that music, I would have to dispute this conclusion).

The fact is, is that music is essential to a healthy life full of vitality and energy. Marilyn Manson said it best: "If you put on a record, it's not going to yell at you for how you dress or put you down. If anything, it'll make you feel better about yourself." It is an outlet for emotions, a shoulder to rest on when the world gets to be too much, and a motivator, to name but a few of its roles. With this considered, I draw attention to this:

"Secondary students who participated in band or
orchestra reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances
(alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs)." -- Texas Commission on Drug and Alcohol
Abuse Report. Reported in Houston Chronicle, January 1998

When was the last time that you heard something good about the public education system? In my entire life, it's always seemed that my education has had to have been cut short--lack of funds, lack of teachers, lack of interest. As a student of music, I have learned to accept the fact that more often than not, music and the arts will be the first thing on the chopping block when the Republicans screw up the country again. However, I am here to tell you why that is a falsehood of practice, and why music in our public schools is possibly the most important subject to be taught to struggling and troubled students.

"The term `core academic subjects' means English, reading or
language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government,
economics, arts, history, and geography." -- No Child Left Behind Act of 2002,
Title IX, Part A, Sec. 9101 (11)

Music is passion. Music is art. Music is self-expression, it is a discipline, it requires hard work, and it offers rewards to students who might have otherwise gone astray. And yet, as the Bush administration sets out on its misbegotten warpath to improve education without spending a dime, it fails to even make passing mention of its importance to our students. They increase the number of standardized tests students must take, yet fail to recognize the power of music in developing young persons' abilities.

"The College Entrance Examination Board found that students involved in public school music programs scored 107 points higher on the SAT's than students with no participation." - Profiles of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, compiled by the Music Educators National Conference (2002)

I am now finishing my freshman year as a music education major in college. I could have just as easily not gone on to higher education, having received less than a 2.0 GPA in middle school, and barely more my freshman year of high school. I consider myself a personal attestment to the value of music in troubled and struggling students.

"Children who participate in music and arts programs often do better in other subjects than children who do not, and troubled students engaged in arts and music programs have better attendance and increased cooperation with teachers and other students." - The Network for Good

After years of mediocre acadameic achievement despite high test scores, I entered into the band program my sophomore year of high school. Despite having played my French horn since the 6th grade, I had rarely taken my interest in music seriously. At the end of my 9th grade year, I informed my band director that I was planning on ending my short-lived music career and dropping band for the fall. He took me aside, told me I had too much potential to leave, and that if he needed to, he would call my parents to work something out.

That was the first time in my life that I felt a teacher hadn't given up on me. My mother, who was diagnosed with and has been suffering from manic depression since 1986, had been a constant source of pain and suffering for me. Having had social services involved in my home life and dealing with my unmedicated mother had led to a deep depression.

In the Fall of 2002, I marched my first season with the high school marching band. The next fall, I would be first chair horn in our secondary band. As time went on, I would continue to be increasingly involved in music, and substantially raise my GPA; I graduated with a cumulative GPA just over 3.0 and earned 3.5 GPAs my junior year, in addition to taking honors and AP courses in English Composition, International Relations, British Literature, and American Government.

As our country heads into the 2006 elections, it's easy to get caught up in the scandals of the Republicans. It's easy to be enraged at the President's incompetence and illegal activities. Yet, we still must remember that there are important parts of our society that continue to be eroded by the Republican contempt for civilization, that public education, the arts, and yes, music, all have a critical role to play in the development of our youth and the next generation. When Bush talks about cutting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's music education program to save money, we have to stand up and pay attention. When your local superintendent suggests that in order to pay for more standardized tests in the "core" academic departments the school cut funding for music and the arts, we have to stand up and say "No."

I became a music education major in the hopes that, one day, I could do for another student what my music educators did for me. Music is magic, and it provides an important avenue for children to succeed in, regardless of whether they are already high achievers or are struggling to keep up with the rest of their class. The results for them are real at the concerts, because when they play, people will stand up and clap for them. For some of these students, there is no other time where they will be cheered on for their hard work, to be appreciated for putting the effort into something that is enjoyed by others. When we look to improve education, we shouldn't be beating science and math teachers over the head with enforced curriculums and standardized tests, but instead to cultivate students' well-being by helping them lead better lives. That is the ultimate service to education, whether you are a Democrat or a Republican.

********

This is why music education is needed. Children need an outlet for their creativity. They need to express themselves. The feeling that no one is listening is the worst in the world. After Shostakovich was censured by Stalin because his opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtansk was too bourgeois, he never wrote another opera again. His 'comeback' piece after a prolonged period of musical inactivity was subtitled "the response of a Soviet artist to justified criticism." He still wrote what he wanted to, but never published any of his 'subversive' 'bourgeois' work, instead hiding it in a desk drawer; he instead turned out pro-Soviet works that were acceptable to the Party. In 1948, his Ninth Symphony was accused of not being pro-Revolution. In 1959, he was appointed the First Secretary of the Composer's Union, which required him to join the Communist Party. You can see where this is heading.

This inability to express himself how he wanted led to a severe bout of depression that led to the creation of Quartet No. 8. The 'official' story behind the piece was that after witnessing the destruction at Dresden, he was so shocked and horrified that he wrote it as an expression of his horror of facism. It was even subtitled "To the Memory of the Victims of Facism." In reality, it was meant as a musical suicide note, although he died 15 years later of natural causes.

Let's take a more recent example. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (the Columbine killers). No one thought much of either of them, never took them seriously, never considered what they had to say. We all know the disastrous outcome. Would music have helped them out of their depression? Possibly, although it's pretty much a given that if anyone had paid attention to them, given them an outlet to express themselves, they would still be alive, along with 13 other innocent humans.

Sorry about the continuation of the block quote. Blogger is being an assbandit.

Canada and Afghanistan

I have to give props to Mr. Harper for visiting Afghanistan to show his support for the troops. This wasn't a Bush-style drop in and out visit, he stayed over a couple nights at the base (which has been shelled more than once), in one of the more dangerous regions of the country. Compared to Martin and Chretien, at least he's making an attempt to show his support for our armed forces. Whether or not you agree with the Canadian role in Afghanistan, if we finally have a government that is willing to support our military, then the Canadian peacekeeping missions elsewhere will also receive that support. An optimistic scenario is that well-supplied Canadian peacekeepers are sent to Darfur and other troubled regions around the globe.

Canada is sorely lacking in the peacekeeping department these days, the number of missions that Canadians are involved in has dwindled as the armed forces have seen their numbers and funding go down. More funding = better equipment = more service members = more peacekeeping missions. And whoever thinks that peacekeeping is not the same as engaging in combat had better think again and read about the Medak Pocket in the former Yugoslavia, where a well-armed, well-trained, no-nonsense Canadian brigade came across Croatian forces ethnically cleansing a Serbian village. Even more to the point, had Romeo Dallaire's forces in Rwanda been properly equipped, they could have intervened to halt the genocide there.

The fact remains that Canada wasn't in Afghanistan to keep the peace in the first place. On October 4, 2001, NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson announced that, in response to the terrorist attacks in the U.S., the North Atlantic Council (NATO's senior advisory body) was invoking Article 5 of the Treaty of Washington, which states that any attack on a NATO nation launched from outside that nation shall be interpreted as an attack on all the NATO nations. Canada was committed. They are not there with the UN. They are there with NATO. They are not peacekeeping as defined by the UN. I don't see why there is any conflict over that.

The real conflict lies in the notion that Canada is sucking up to America and aiding in US imperialism. I think that the reason why this theory is around is because Harper is in power, and he is viewed as a US crony (in some aspects, he deserves this label. In others, not so much). Nevertheless, it was first Jean Chretien, then Paul Martin, who committed the troops to Afghanistan - and everyone knows how friendly they were with the Bushies. What not many people seem to realize is that peacekeeping does entail military action when needed. Canadian troops going into the mountains to engage Taliban and al-Qaida fighters is not peacekeeping, but rather peace-ensuring. Like in Bosnia, the Canadian troops will have to earn the respect of the populace by being not only tough, but also by showing cultural sensitivity to the local people. Only then can anything meaningful be accomplished. I quote Michael Nickerson:

Well, let’s be clear on something. Canada does have a duty to
help Afghanistan rebuild considering our active role in destabilizing it by
helping to bring about the fall of the Taliban regime. Those who think this is
not our war to fight should have done more to intervene four years ago, because
we’re in it now whether we like it or not.

Nickerson goes on to explain the merits of a debate on the troop committment:

...it is also our duty to debate the how’s and why’s of what
we are doing. An opposition actually doing its job would be pushing with all its
might for a full vote on our next commitment to the region, with the current one
finishing up next February.

It would not only force Peter Mackay to stand up in parliament
and explain exactly what his department and CIDA are doing to rebuild a
shattered nation, but also pressure Harper to increase financial assistance,
push other nations to do their part, work to crack down on the corruption and
waste currently consuming foreign aid in Afghanistan, and generally do more than
play flyboy behind the control of our aging transports.

We could also start to discuss a foreign policy of pre-emption
that so far has done nothing to stop terrorism, even helping it to flourish.
Iraq should stand as an example of what not to do when you feel paranoid, but
instead we have terror-happy pronouncements that we have to stop terrorism
before it reaches our shores, perhaps missing the logical conclusion that we’ll
be invading most of the planet before the paranoia subsides and we’re all
committed.

I should read this site more often.

Tripoli (Triple -E) Senate?

Elected. Equal. Effective. These are the three principals that must be enacted in regards to the Canadian Senate if our federal government wishes to continue to maintain that they are truly democratic - or scrap the Senate entirely. No one, no matter how capable they are, has the right to represent me in my nation's capital if they were not elected by the majority of the people. As it stands, the Senate is an institution for giving patronage to friends of the ruling party. They, in turn, pass pretty much anything and everything that passes through their Upper Chamber. They serve no purpose. The "sober second thought" is little more than a primary waste of time.

That said, the Senate can serve a purpose. In order to counterbalance the House of Commons, in which representation is based on population, representation would be based on regions or provinces. There would be a fixed number of senators for each province, and each province would have the same number of senators. They would be elected by the people they represent. They would ensure that a smaller province like New Brunswick would not got overwhelmed by the political clout of, say, Ontario or Alberta. Where's the democracy in that?

So, what's being done? Presently, nothing. The Liberals have never attempted Senate reform. The Conservatives, if elected, will hold elections for any opening seats. This is a good thing, in my opinion. It definitely paves the way for a EEE Senate. One thing that I actually like about the Conservatives. The NDP, on the other hand, simply wants to abolish the Senate, which is something I definitely disagree with for the reasons I stated above, which should also explain the usefulness of a Senate. I'm sure they'll be made to see reason. It's for the good of the country.

If You Allow It, They Will Be Dumb

There's an election in about a month and a half. If the Conservatives had waited a few months longer before bringing down the House, I could've voted. Stephen Fletcher was at my band concert the other day, I wanted to ask him whether or not the Conservatives would abolish universal health-care. On this issue, I'm with the NDP. Jack Layton recently stated that private health clinics were and essential part of Medicare, and part of Tommy Douglas' vision, but that they shouldn't be funded at all by the government. The Liberals would get rid of the private clinics. I believe that if someone needs an operation badly enough, they should be able to pay for it and get it over with, but also a just society is one that helps its members who can't help themselves.

But I'm off topic already. Should the voting age be lowered to 16? I'm 17 and I'd love to vote. I like to think that I'm fairly knowledgeable when it comes to politics, so my choice would be thought out. But would most other teenagers be that way? Probably not. It's a sticky issue, as the question it brings up is: at what age is it deemed that people have the necessary knowledge to vote? Apparently it's 18. Lowering the voting age would probably just bring in more uninformed votes, but hey, how is that different from now? Might as well just have a set voting age. Eventually, where do you end? 13-year olds? Boo-urns, 18 is good enough.

Energy Crunch. Shit.

Goddamn, I've gotta do this more often.

Probably the most devastating effect of Hurricane Katrina has been that it proved just how vulnerable we in the West are when our oil stocks are threatened. True, any major Doomsday scenarios never came to pass, but just imagine if they did. Would gas have gone up even higher than $1.20/litre? Would prices have "normalized" so quickly? I doubt it.

My parent's heating bill last year was roughly $4oo. This year, it's projected to increase 40%. With bleak future outlooks like that, it's no wonder that we're hearing more and more about breakthroughs in alternative fuel source. In the National Post a few days ago, there was a story about a company who've developed an efficient method to create hydrogen for fuel. A dorm at Canadian Mennonite University is heated completely with geo-thermal energy, no longer just the darling of the Icelandics. How to conserve gas on W-DAZ in the States. Bio-diesel in Canadian Geographic. Adverts for Beyond Petroleum in Time. You get the idea. Me, I'm all for it. I cringe whenever I see one of those big honkin' SUVs being driven by only one person. I want a car with a diesel engine so I can convert it to run on used vegetable oil. I want Katz to sponsor a new rapid-transit system. I want a sustainable future. If that makes me a dirty hippiy then I'm never showering again.

Our economy, and more importantly, we cannot realistically survive a long-term oil shock.