This is a VERY rapid update... If you're a Canadian (or interested in Canada), please read this AND the next post from much earlier today...

This ties into yesterday's blog entry...

From CNN...

Wisconsin police stop 'Columbine waiting to happen'

GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (AP) -- Two teenage boys amassed a cache of guns, ammunition, bombs and other weapons at their homes and apparently planned to use them to attack their high school, authorities said.

The boys, both 17, were arrested Thursday morning at East High School in Green Bay, but their identities were not released pending possible charges, authorities said.

Police Chief Craig Van Schyndle said officers who found the materials also found suicide notes.

-- Snip! --

The school resource officer also "learned these two students were obsessed with pain, death, and had suicidal thoughts," Van Schyndle said.

Police raided their homes and found the guns, ammunition, several bombs, bomb-making material, camouflage clothing, helmets and gas masks. No weapons were found at the school. The chief said the students had learned bomb-making on the Internet.

-- Snip! --

School Superintendent Dan Nerad credited school staff and their relationships with students for allowing them to learn of the situation and immediately get the school resource officer involved.

...and if I may from my entry yesterday...

If your kid is stockpiling weapons, if your kid denotes that violent behaviour in the real world is acceptable, if your kid openly espouses that "some people" need to die... THEN you have a problem...

-- Snip! --

So please, if anything recently has made you think that you should take away your kid's video games, delete their MP3s, and force them into a fashion that's less "issuey"... why not talk to them about their views on life... and the sacred-ness of it.

Something to think about... you can't tell someone to be good to all people... and then espouse turning a part of the world into a "sheet of glass". You need to explain, teach, and learn that the ONLY time we should be violent or wish violence is to someone who, without action, will take other's lives or harm them without thought, compassion, or empathy... and that is not a coverall with some group.

Those who do not respect human life do not deserve the respect OF human life... The police who killed the gunmen perserved life... he was intent on (and successful at) taking lives... and there is an obvious difference.

This gunmen... all "killers"... they don't care. They're apathetic to who they harm... They often say the opposite of love isn't hate, but indifference... and these types of killers are indifferent to their victims. This, in my opinion, is the disconnect.

To some parents out there... don't be afraid of your kid... and don't assume that their "privacy" MUST come above all... take some time... delve into their lives GENTLY...

...because, if your kid is STOCKPILING AND BUILDING WEAPONS, the rest of the world is going to wonder WHY YOU DIDN'T NOTICE.

Oh, and if you claim you were TOO BUSY to notice, perhaps you are too busy to BE a parent in the first place.

This case differs GREATLY from the tragic events in Montreal yesterday... because these were high school kids... the idiot from yesterday was a twenty-five year old man.

Don't get confused about this either... I stand by my point that video games, "gothic culture", horror films, comic books, Elvis music, Beatles music, jazz... and everything down through the ages that's BEEN BLAMED for everything bad is NOT the enemy... apathy and a non-understanding about human life and it's value has EVERYTHING to do with it.

Isn't it worth teaching your kids the VALUE and PRECIOUSNESS of LIFE?

If they had these values... could they pull the trigger?

Addendum: 20:39 EDT

Here's a pic of the two kids arrested from CNN... Don't they look "goth"?

I mean, listening to the media here in Toronto, they MUST be!

I'm starting a WEEKLY FEATURE right here... on this blog!

No, it's not going to be an FOAD thing... or a "meme" of any type... or even some sort of listy-thing... well, not really.

For a while now, Sue and myself have discussed the concept of "Canadian Heroes"... or lack thereof. (Click here and/or here to read a HUGE rant about it from an old message board...)

This was brought home a little bit more on Wednesday when the radio station we tend to listen to did a bit about this exact subject... The asked people to name their "Canadian Hero"... and, well... people sucked at it.

Most people in this country have no idea of the great Canadians of history and what made them interesting because... well... I dunno.

Actually, I do blame the fact that, aside from some excellent "Heritage Minutes" presented by folks named H!storica, most Canadians are not taught or enlightened on any level as to some of the more interesting players in this country.

So, in a vain attempt to perhaps enlighten SOME folks to some of the people I think were "heroic" or "interesting" that had genuine ties to Canada, I'm going to do "Canadian Hero Fridays"... one person PER WEEK... a little about them, what roll they played and why I'd qualify them as heroes.

These will not be the "obvious" choices the sheeple might pick... like Terry Fox (although he'd qualify as a hero in my books), assorted Hollywood types, or well-known sports figures... They will be people who I feel have been overlooked by our history teachers and media.

Heck, I'll give you a list of who I plan on spilling virtual ink about...

Charles deSalaberry
Crowfoot
Harriet Tubman Davis
James Fitzgibbon
Madeleine Jarret Tarieu (Madeleine de Vercheres)
Mary Shadd Cary
Molly Brant
Sam Steele
Tecumseh
Wilfred "Wop" May
Rev. William King (and the Elgin settlement)
William Lyon Mackenzie

Sue may take over with other folks I've neglected... but this is my list.

Some names above may be familiar... others not so much... but they all deserve attention.

Some of the above are not "Canadian Born"... but these people took to this country and contributed to it in a significant way... and often, without true accolades or recognition.

My job, in under 900 words, try to maybe show you WHY these folks deserve to be well known in this country of mine...

I've heard people in my own country tell me how "Canadian History is Non-Existent" or how "Canadian History is Dull"... they are very wrong... and it's because they don't know some of their own heritage...

Forgive my loftiness, but I'm going to thrust these people at them... people that their history teachers either ignored or glossed over for the most part... and yes, you, my gentle readers will read about 'em too, I hope.

Trust me, the people I've picked have truly fantastic histories... and great stories... and I'll do my best to give you a little taste of their lives.

I only hope that, within those 900 words or under, I convey these people's lives and contributions... and perhaps wet an appetite to know more about them. To honour these often unsung heroes of my country.

Soooo... come back next week for this NEW weekly series on this blog!

I feel so "television" saying that...

Click Here to read about how this is more than one person's dream... but a whole family's...

Click Here for one of our ideas to help raise money for our dream...

Click Here for another idea to help us raise the funds for our dream...

Click Here for One Old Green Bus SWAG!