The Antiquated 2nd Amendment & The Worst Plan B of All-time

It's been a week now since the unspeakable and unfathomable Sandy Hook Elementary School travesty; the world still remains in shock. When I first started to read the timeline on Twitter I initially tweeted that the conversation on gun control should be saved for a more appropriate time, whether that was in the coming days, weeks or months. However, shortly thereafter, after reading the tweets from Piers Morgan and Michael Moore, I came to agreement that NOW is the time to have an honest conversation about gun control in the United States. The deaths of these 20 innocent young angels cannot happen without change. I spent the next couple hours retweeting insightful articles and statistics about the gun control issue in the United States. I insisted that, because I don't have extensive knowledge on the subject and I'm Canadian, I would keep my thoughts to a platform of 140 characters or less. That was before I came across two pathetic stories I could not commit thoughts to, in 140 characters or less.

The first story I felt compelled to write about was from President Obama's speech at the Newtown memorial. Within the hour of the speech, Deadspin quickly compiled a running timeline of insensitive and racist tweets from individuals upset that the speech was interrupting the San Francisco 49ers v. New England Patriots game on Sunday Night Football. In the days following, I was appalled by the +NFL's cowardice to support NBC's decision to pre-empt the game to air President Obama's speech. A true #PRFail in my books.

The second story infuriated me much more than the first. An American armour provider, Amendment II is profiting off this horrific massacre. Yes, sales of Amendment II's armoured backpacks have tripled in the last week. That's correct, hundreds to thousands of American parents are rushing to strap armoured Disney Princesses, Avengers or Swiss Gear backpacks to their children and send them to school "protected" in case another deranged young male happens to stumble upon his mother's semi-automatic rifle in the "hidden cabinet". REALLY? This is the worst Plan B of all-time!

I quickly want to interrupt this train of thought to state that A) I'm aware and proud that since this massacre, thousands of Americans have admitted to the gun control issue and have relinquished their guns and B) I'm the last guy that buys into sweeping global generalizations about the American people. I'm the first guy to defend Americans. I love the United States and many of its people.

That said, for all the gun brandishing, armoured backpack purchasing, 2nd amendment-saluting Americans, I have to say that you are unquestionably delusional. To believe a reasonable solution to preventing another shooting of this magnitude is to strap handguns and rifles to your children's teachers or worse, don your children in armoured backpacks is beyond comprehension.

Armour has never been so stylish for your children!

Are we devolving as a species? I'm unequivocally sickened by this! The solution to this problem sits right in front of our faces; don't allow these guns to be so damn accessible! The thought of purchasing a semi-automatic rifle at the local Walmart truly boggles my mind. I truly could never bring myself to even walk over to that section of the store when I visited an American Walmart. This foreign concept was way too creepy to consider. To be blatantly honest, if I wanted to own a rifle of that kind, I have NO IDEA how or where I could find one. For the average American, it's easier for you to go purchase an AK47 than it is for me to unlock that gun in the latest Call of Duty video game.

If you're THAT pro-gun loyalist that is completely dismissing what I'm saying then I want you to do the following. I want you to strap the Disney Princesses armoured backpack to your little daughter. Then have this conversation with her...

Daughter: "Why do I need to wear this?"
Parent: "It's for your protection in case a bad person tries to shoot you"
Daughter: "Why do we let these bad people have guns?"
Parent: "Our 2nd amendment says we are allowed to bear arms"
Daughter: "I'm scared"

I'm almost certain that child will come to the realization of the real issue quicker than many of these gun-waving individuals. That precious 2nd amendment these people cling to is completely antiquated. It was drafted in 1791! For Pete's sake, SLAVERY had yet to be abolished. There were no semi-automatic rifles in 1791 either. Since that time we've abolished slavery, allowed women to vote, drove, flown, listened to the radio, watched TV, surfed the Internet, Facebook'd, Skype'd, etc. We've evolved in every possible way except for the 2nd amendment.

For the sake of the American people, I hope we see a revolution on the 2nd amendment.

IKEA - Why No Monkey Business?

It's been less than a week since Darwin the monkey aka IKEAMonkey was thrust into our lives with great fervour and hoopla. The well-dressed miniature primate, donning a faux-fur shearling coat caused a ruckus at a Toronto IKEA on Sunday, December 10th. It only took one minute for photos to be snapped and video to be recorded for Darwin to become a global sensation; the likes not even Bieber created. Well, in the same flash he entered our lives, he'll exit. Why didn't IKEA properly capitalize on the world's most lovable monkey?

Ladies & Gentlemen - Darwin the Monkey

From a social standpoint, IKEA hasn't really acknowledged Darwin except one post from IKEA Canada announcement of a donation to Darwin's new home at the Story Book Primate Sanctuary.

As social marketers, aren't we told a story of this virility is a social goldmine?

IKEA could have had great fun using Pinterest, #IKEAMonkey, etc. Why not parody content of the new Darwin Line at IKEA stores? A Pinterest board of shearling couches, love seats and ottomans wrapped in faux fur.

Darwin will be old news, this time next week; he may already be old news. Why no monkey business IKEA?

The Greatest Professional Wrestler of All-Time: Part 1 of 2

Sports & sports-entertainment fans alike all share an affinity for debate; these discussions fuel our fandom in sports. Is Gretzky or Lemieux the greatest to ever lace up skates? Are the expansion 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers or 2008 Detroit Lions the worse team in the history of the NFL? Does King James reign supreme over Air Jordan? We can dedicate several back-and-forth hours into those debates but none of those aforementioned arguments or any sports debate, for the matter, share the intricacies and layers as, who's the greatest professional wrestler of all-time.

It's been discussed several times, but I don't think the pro wrestling community has ever come upon a definitive answer; although, as of late, the argument seems to be swaying in the favour of Shawn Michaels. It's a compelling argument because of the discussed layers the debate has. It starts with a single question; what makes a pro wrestler the greatest? The debates of who's the greatest baseball player or hockey player aren't nearly as complex; these debates are predicated on statistics and the number of rings on the players' fingers. In pro wrestling, it's not nearly as black and white.

The Hitman can certainly lay claim to the best ever

If we equate greatness in pro wrestling to pure technical prowess, how do we not anoint Bret Hart or Chris Benoit as the greatest to ever lace up a pair of boots? If we're defining greatness by the ability to convey a story, Ric Flair may be the greatest. If drawing ability is the ultimate factor, was there any movements that drew as well as Hulkamania or Austin 3:16?

I will not, by any means, attempt to provide a definitive answer for this enigma; I'm not sure if we'll ever have a definitive answer. It's an entirely subjective selection, but my next post, I will provide a few choices for you to decide for yourself.

To be continued...