April 30, 2006
My mind is a wondering
So the other day my mind got wondering and I know this can be a very dangerous thing. Whilst reading a news item I could not help but become irate...well not really irate as that can be a very dangerous word, more like furious. I was reading up on a case that is before the court. The case involves 16 youth who were charged in sexual harrassment and general harrassment that took place over a year against a girl. These 16 youth and girl all attended the same school in Toronto. This case is complex as the girl is white and all 16 youth charged are black. Not only is it controversial in that manner but it's complex due to it being high school students and what constitutes harrassment vs bullying. In my honest opinion there should be no differentiating the two. Bullying is harrassment and should be treated as such, however there is a school of thought that bullying is a normal part of growing up. Being harrassed should never be a part of growing up and allowing it to be normalized is sending the wrong message.

The news article I was reading infuriated me because of the comment made by one of the mothers of the accused. The accused was given a peace bond for a year. What this entails is that the accused does not admit to any guilt and must remain an upstanding citizen for a year, have no contact with the victim and not step foot in the school. This seemed an okay sentance for the accused part in the crime--and it is a crime to be a bully. The mother had the nerve to say the following "I'm just tired of coming here. I'm fed up. I just wanted it to be over. It's been a big stress for me, finding lawyers, getting her out of school. She had nightmares being in jail for one night." What kind of statement is that. What about the victim. Being terrorized for a year? Having to go to the school after having 16 of her peers charged with harrassment? What about the family of the victim having to deal with everything that resulted of this girl charging the 16 youth? I guess it's no wonder that the accused is the way that she is. Having a mother not admitting that there is a problem and placing the blame else where. Like seriously take responsibility for your actions folks.

Now off that thought path and on the the next one. Yet again I was reading another article in The Walrus. It was on the pending bird flu pandemic. As I was reading the article it touched on the Spanish Flu and how it wiped out a large portion of the population. My mind began to wonder at this point. What if the Spanish flu was mother natures funny little way of saying "Slow down on the population growth!!" The majority of those who fell ill were in really good health and young. What if the Avain Flu is our generation of the Spanish Flu?
What if mother nature is telling us to slow down on the population growth? It is hitting Asia first, which is a highly populous area. I wonder if an evolutionist or evolutionary biologist has ever thought this through? Probably not as that would require them to believe in something outside of the realm of science.

Either way mind will wonder as I read articles