rebel?

in recent history it has become popular to see the famous image of ernesto "che" guevara with beretta on posters, t-shirts, and magazines. Most of the time, these images are used to gain attention or some sort of credibility. Just today I saw a pretty cool shirt with his face emblazoned upon the front and the the number 10 with name guevara and the words freedom fighter on the back, soccer jersey style. Ah, Che the great revolutionary!

While it is important to remember the contributions of such men to revolutionary history, it is eqaully important to remember the values they stood for. Guevara for the most part has become a symbol of the rebel, a symbol that can be enticing in today's society. However, simply donning a t-shirt with Guevara's face, in my opinion, does no justice to what the man truly stood for and what he truly accomplished; a shirt doesn't make one a rebel.

The crux of my point is that one 's acts should reflect his/her values. If one were to wear a Guevara shirt (or any similar symbolic clothing), I would hope that that person has a strong idea of what Guevara stood for, why he did what he did, why hundreds died for his cause, and believes in some part of his cause - Not just to make a fickle, insubstantial fashion statement, like with the jersery style shirt i saw today.

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The Motorcycle Diaries only increased my interest in Guevara's life, and I recommend this movie to all. It'd be nice to become more enlightened about the times and lives and ideas of other such leading historic figures, alive with the passion of a set of values.

justice

i think the justice system in canada is much too lenient. i dont pretend to be an expert on our judicial system, but from what i've seen on the news, it is disturbing how freely criminals are permitted to live in our country,

every other week or so on the news, i hear of criminals, whether they be guilty rapists or murderers, escaping while in transit to a "halfway house". These are criminals who have shown some sort of progress, or have finished serving their sentence. Either way, these halfway houses are supposed to help these people re-establish themselves in society. What shocks me the most is that many of these criminals are not escorted in any form to this housing, but are basically told to do so under their own volition.

What also bothers me is the treatment of sexual offenders. These people, mostly men, serve their sentence for a couple years, and are allowed to move back into society without anyone's knowledge. Why is more concern given to the privacy of a brutal criminal, rather than the safety of an entire community? This criminal must earn back his rights. He chose to give up his rights when he assaulted another innocent human being, and deserves no lenience. The fact that the sexual offenders registry took so long to enact is just one example of the pathetic system we have in Canada; furthermore, the current form of this registry is but a shadow of what it should be. It does not grant the power required to keep the community truly safe.

Above all, I still wonder why such criminals are even allowed to re-enter our society so quickly. The idea of a repeat offender should not be so common. Victims of assault must live with pain for a lifetime, and these criminals are free to roam the streets within 2-3 years? Such beings have absolutely no place in our society.

I understand many challenges exist in keeping criminals in prisons of any type for an extended period; however, I hope that these challenges are met in an aim to keep our communities safe, which should be the ultimate goal. Step by step, I hope that the naivete and lenience displayed so often will be shunned and a more disciplined justice system can be enacted in Canada.