Overwhelming Sadness over the Aneez & Chanelle Tragedy

I stopped by the impromptu shrine on the north side of 4th Avenue, underneath the Granville Street Bridge. It's a small indication of the enormous number of people who loved Aneez & Chanelle, two incredibly special, contributing human beings.






My friend, his wife, his father, and his aunt attended the funeral for Aneez yesterday. The service was held at the Ismaili Jamatkhana in Burnaby. My friend shared with me that it was overflowing with family members, friends, and colleagues. The sadness was simply overwhelming.

Breaking News: 8 Snowmobilers Believed Dead in SE B.C.

A terrible tragedy has hit British Columbia near year's end. Eight snowmobilers are believed to be dead, after being buried in an avalanche. Only 3 among the group of 11 were able to climb out.

More available here and here. Click on the map to see a full-screen one with further details.


Video clips can be seen here and here.

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I apologize for detracting from the primary concern at hand but I must draw your attention to an example of what appears to be a common mindset amongst CBC News regulars. To this story was added this comment:

You dismiss one moron in any group but look how many people "recommended" this particular comment! To it and others like it I wrote this:

Am I reading this right, several commenters on here are chastising those who have likely just died (and whose families may be reading this very story) and hundreds of CBC readers are praising such comments? You are ghouls beyond the sickest depravity imaginable.

Eternal Darkness of the Clueless Mind

As I do most evenings when I'm working, I have BBC London on in the background. Tonight the main topic of conversation was Burma: Should the world community go in to help the desperate citizens there, even if the government continues to refuse the help?

Two American women called in successively, one from Iowa and the other from New York. Both identified themselves as "progressives" (that's PC code for "liberal"). Both stated that they're adamantly against the U.S. being in both Afghanistan and Iraq. And then both stated ... wait for it ... that the U.S. should absolutely go into Burma even if the government there says 'No'.

The host asked each of them an obvious question, "And what would you do if the Burmese military started firing upon the American military and aid workers?"

In both cases: Long pause and then, "Uhhhhh, uhhhh, I don't know."

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!

A Sad Ending To A Short Life

I recently found out that a friend's daughter in Victoria committed suicide. What may be a little strange is that you can view her Facebook page here, though you do have to be a member. She wasn't quite 20 years old but succumbed to the pressures around her. So incredible sad.

May you finally find peace, Brittany.

The Virginia Tech Massacre

Like the rest of you, I'm still sorting out in my own mind all of my feelings about the tragedy that recently occurred in Blacksburg, Virginia. However the hairs on the back of my neck go up when I hear the same old chorus of:

• We must stop such a thing from ever happening again. Really, how?
  
• The murderer, Cho, was a victim too. Sorry, I just can't feel sorry for him.
• All guns must be banned. This is a very complex issue and isn't quite so simple.
• Much more sensitivity training would have prevented this. Really, how?

I realize that people need to express their grief in different ways but it's very uncouth when different groups immediately use a tragedy to support their own agenda.
Mark Steyn makes some excellent points here. And David Berner does the same here