You don't have to open the door to let sadness come in. He is always an unwanted guest. Always. You can simply switch off the lights and sit there, he will come in without knocking. He scares you with his ugly head, until you have no strength to scream, nor cry aloud at all.

Happiness is a rare guest, eh? You gotta open the door and invite him in! Invite him in!

Tragedy is everywhere. Happiness needs intention. Intention needs ... invention.

To be happy or not, it's a matter of choice. :-)

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The price of being "addicted" to sth is too high. It isn't necessarily destructive, but one would undoubtedly devote his/her whole life to that. Obsession, addiction, and then devotion?! Is it an universally valid sequence? Who can tell whether it worths it or not?

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Hate crime law and homophobia

On November 17, 2001, Aaron Webster, a 42 year-old gay man, was beaten to death in a vicious attack in Vancouver. Tim Chisholm, Aaron's friend for 15 years, discovered Aaron's bloodied body, naked except for his hiking boots, in a parking lot in Stanley Park. Aaron had been bludgeoned with either a baseball bat or a pool cue by a group of three to four men. After phoning 911, Chisholm attempted CPR on his unconscious friend. It was no use. Aaron died in Chisholm's arms before help could arrive.

This brutal murder is believed to have been British Columbia's first fatal "gay bashing." At a memorial service for Webster that drew 1,500 people, Vancouver Police Inspector Dave Jones identified Webster as the victim of " a hate crime, pure and simple" and pledged that the city's police department would "do everything in our power" to find the perpetuators and "bring them to justice" (Associated Press, 2001; Nagle, 2001).

Hate crimes are criminal acts motivated by a victim's race, religion, or ethnicity. In 1999, following the "gay bashing" incident, Justice Minister Anne McLellan announced that she would introduce amendments to protect lesbians and gays from hate crimes. The underlying issue is whether crimes motivated by the victim's sexual orientation are the same as crimes motivated by the victim's race, religion, or ethnicity. But isn't murder considered to be a total unacceptable criminal act in today's civilized world ? Nobody should excuse themselves from any murderous acts for the victim's sexual orientation. Their acts can never be justified by the victim's perceived homosexuality.

Legalization of the same-sex marriage has been a hot topic these days. Predictably there is a panic over the impact brought the legislation. I don't want to oppose it without giving it a thought, or because I'm christian. But there's one thing I don't understand. If we respect people who share different religious beliefs as we do and thereby their freedom and rights in this secular world, why can't do respect those who don't share the "normal" sexual orientation as most people do? Why do we point fingers to those homosexuals for their deviations and say they have sinned when we still find peace with those muslims, indians, or buddhists who worship other gods? If they are considered sinners, those non-believers are sinners! Everybody is sinners! If we respect the rights and privileges of some sinners, all the while backlashing other sinners, doesn't that sound like a double standard? I don't understand.

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