Human Life is Precious

I've been toying with an idea of late, every time I see a car driving aggressively or erratically, just the needless risk taking that jeopardizes other motorists and pedestrians. The idea that some how when we get behind the wheel of our cars we dehumanize everything on the road, taking for granted that in those other cars, and walking down the road are sentient human beings, regardless of age, each one is precious and irreplaceable.  We only have a finite amount of time here, and I plan on making the most of it, and I really don't want some ones urgency to get to the drive thru for coffee to put that at risk.

We all have seen the ageist little signs that enshrine the specialness of having in your vehicle an infant, and I've considered, what one internet denizen has already published here, and I've copied for illustration putting a sign like this on my car:

cropped and presented with out permission, all rights belong to linked creator.

Where this once in a blue moon blog post has surged from, is not the callousness or crazed behaviour of drivers, but the reckless, and sociopathic disregard for human life shown by two idiots at a block party last night.  It was the lead story on the CBC this morning, and the splashed all over the Toronto Star.  The police cheif's made a statement, with shock and weariness in his voice that this was 'the worst incident of gun violence ever' I think he left it qualified 'in North America.'

I find myself, with some caveats agreeing.  The caveats, and I think he meant them as well, is that this isn't to lesson or take away from horrific crimes which have occurred with guns, the Montreal and Columbine shootings for example.  Those were horrible crimes, which involved fire arms, but were premeditated.  This was a crime that was the kind of spontaneous* violence that occurs when people stop considering each other (and likely themselves) to have any value. It is the reckless and thoughtless decision making without a care for consequence or society.  It takes an iota of self work and conscience to say "I'm in a crowded place lets take this some where else.  Never mind the more sophisticated processing that says "This just isn't worth fighting about" and walking away.. 

This isn't a cry for gun control** but a plea for some humanism, humanism in the street, in the car, and in life.  Recognize the people around you as people, recognize yourself as a person, and realize that the golden rule is as relevant a rule today as it ever has been.


* not with standing the premeditation that occurs when you strap a loaded hand gun on and go out in to the public, you obviously mean for it to be there for some purpose?

** I really don't see why people need the right to own a handgun, I'm sure they are fun to target shoot with, but the hand gun is really a single purpose item, it is design for compact people killing, and target shooting is just practice for the real thing.  Long guns are more general purpose, and difficult to conceal.  They have clear sporting value, and permit the enjoyment of marksmanship as well.  That all being said, I do realize that the majority of handgun crime is done with illegally owned handguns, and that out and out banning of handguns wouldn't necessarily solve the problem.  It is too bad ammunition can so easily be manufactured in the home, otherwise Chris Rock's approach to ammunition control might work.

Busy Busy Weekend

Well what can I say we got a lot done, our house is still a mess, and I think we are both exhausted. Erin will more then willingly paint you the image of her tyrant slave driver husband, but I don't really have to drive her too hard, just make a puppy dog face. It was all for good though. Are office is finally done, I may even post some pictures if I can remember. It is a little tight, but we have a work area for people, and a sleeping area for people (a desk and bed) and a work area and sleep area for cats (the cat tree, it serves both purposes.) Let's be honest, every surface is a sleeping area for cats, and cats don't do work, although to them napping is serious business.

The process of cleaning the office/future nursery, as well as furniture buying, has produced an inordinate amount of garbage. Were I to try and give it an ordinal, I would have to say one car load, and not one of those small trunk hybrid car loads, but a Sonata's worth. On that note, arriving at the dump in -15 degree C temperatures, with blowing winds, and not gloves is not a smart move. Especially when you realize only after arrival that unlike street pickup, dump drop off of recyclables must be sorted in advance...

After all that we began work on "Morgan's" room, Erin and her mom picked up paint Friday night, and we had at it on Sunday. The first coat went up without complaint, and the room is looking very gender-neutral babyesque. Its a really cute cheery green, (not hospital green) I think it is called farm yard? but if I were to pick a name, soft lime, or perhaps margarita would suffice. In the midst of all that we tackled the heap of laundry and kitchen mess that has been building up as a back log while we cleaned. The house still looks awful, but a lot less awful then before. There are corners of sanity forming, the office being the only one that has completely coalesced.

"Morgan's" new dresser is still occupying about 1/5 of our living room, and my D&D boxes another 1/6th. The piles have apparently given the umbrella plant cause to complain as they are blocking light. I can almost see the light myself, the tunnel just has one more coat of paint, and two coats of baseboard paint, but we are almost there, almost :) Actually we are going to put up the last coat tonight, and probably hang the closet bar tomorrow.

On a completely side note, this morning on the radio was a bit about handguns. While most crime is committed with 'illegal guns' those guns themselves are often stolen legal guns. While the restrictions put on gun owners is already onerous, I speculated on a few more that might discourage gun theft.

1. Ban the sale of hand gun ammo, except at licensed shooting ranges, stipulate that all ammo must stay at the range. This won't keep all the ammo off the streets but it should heavily restrict it. It would force ammo to be illegally sold through narrow distribution channels, and force thugs to pay more for it, given the Chris Rock theory, they may think twice before spending their expensive bullets. For hunters who use their handguns as a last defense against a big arse bear trying to eat them, if you allow for licensed gun owners to own licensed ammo presses, then they would be able to make ammo for personal use.

2. Limit the number of assembled weapons kept at a single location. Many gun collectors rage against crippling/disabling collection pieces as it reduces their value. But, if those collectors were permitted to keep their weapons not permanently disabled, but partially disassembled, with the requirement of keeping the removed components in an off site storage location, like a gun club, or bank vault. The weapons could be bought and sold by collectors as complete units, so long as they are stored apart. Each legal owner would be permitted a reasonable number of assembled weapons for the purposes of hunting, or range practice. The intent here is to be a disincentive to thieves from targeting gun collectors knowing that they will not posses sufficient weapons to make them viable targets.

Anyways some thoughts on the subject, maybe Colin can weigh in on how they are bad?