Please Shake Hands

Chinese President Xi Jinping met US Secretary of State John Kerry in Beijing. Both looked relaxed and shook hands.

Shaking Hands is always better than Shooting Bullets and Dropping Bombs. When is Obama going to shake hands with Putin? I hope soon !!!

Shooting in Ottawa

However you thought regarding the shooting on Parliament Hill, that it was a crime, an act of terrorism, a war with ISIS on home soil, a crazy act of religious extremism carried out by a radicalized Zehal-Bisbeau, or whatever, October 22, 2014 was definitely not an ordinary day.  

By now, we know that the fallen soldier was Nathan Cirillo. Condolences to his family and loved ones !  Thanks to Kevin Vickers, Sergeant-at-Arms of the Canadian Parliament, Zehal-Bisbeau was taken out. Kevin is hailed as a national hero of Canada.

It could have been much worse, as it happened not only outside, but also inside the Parliament of Canada. This tragic incident is a wake up call for Canada, that it is not immune to this kind of crazy shooting, which would and did happen in the U.S. and other countries. New security measures should be discussed and implemented by the Government of Canada, especially to protect the Parliament, which is the heart of Canadian democracy and the central work place of the Canadian Government leaders.

I was impressed by what I saw, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper walked over to shake hands with and embrace the opposition leaders Justin Trudeau and Tom Mulcair. That was so Canadian, so civilized, so ministerial. Thumbs up this time to Harper!        

A Canadian song of the Great Big Sea comes to mind. It is called Ordinary Day. Certainly, as said earlier, October 22, 2014 was definitely not an ordinary day. However, the song lyrics still provide some good advice, which said " At the end of the day, you've just got to say it's all right."  It's all right, Canada. Let's move on ! 

Spring Shooting

In the news, 6 were killed in suburban Houston, Texas, including 4 children. Is this even news, or rather just the same old story? Mass shooting is nothing new in America. It happens frequently. Even the headline of the news article I read implies that it is something seasonal.

To be fair, the headline of 'Spring Shooting' is probably intended to mean that the tragedy is happening in Spring, but to me, it sounds like an expected seasonal event. Don't be surprised if you see this same old story happen yet again: summer shooting, fall shooting and winter shooting! It is like a popular movie, with continued sequels.

Unfortunately, such mass murders are not movies. Real people actually died. In terms of gun possession, U.S.A. is number one in the whole world. One recent report shows that there are 97 guns for every 100 U.S.residents. Whao, that means there are more than 300 million guns in America !

"Guns don't kill people.Only people kill people", so they say. I heard that in Texas, a man would propose to marry a woman by giving her not only a ring, but also a gun. Dear friends in Texas, is this true or not ? Don't know what to say really, in spite of the fact that mass shooting causing multiple deaths is a very serious problem.Why ? Because bearing arms is a constitutional right of the Americans.

Guns are very much part of the American culture. It is not easy to change a culture, unless both government and people come to an agreement. Politics and economics only make the gun issue even more difficult and complicated. It is a mission impossible, or is it ?, to tell the Americans to stop playing with guns, the Russians to stop drinking volka, or the Canadians to stop playing hockey ?!

Connecticut School Shooting

In the news,a gun man killed 28 people,including himself and his mother.20 were children of the Sandy Hook Elementary.This is so bad and so sad, but it is nothing new.It is gun-crazy America!