Urban societies have recently awoken to very disturbing realities, a few weeks ago in Toronto, specifically Scarborough; A neighbourhood was traumatized by the action of young punks with guns. A street party turned violent and lives were lost all because an argument over a parking spot, boiled over. Rather than use words of reason and speak their way to a resolution; the solution was to shoot first, ask questions later. There was no regard for innocent life and many media outlets lambasted the black community for a lack of parenting and guidance for their youth. Where has the moral fiber of society gone? In my opinion the youth turn to gangs possibly for lack of affection or attention because usually the single parent is pre-occupied to earn a living to feed her family. The cycle of poverty and the cultural acceptance to have as many children as possible , outside of marriage, send these  mis-guided youngsters toward gangs that specialize in the easy money of drugs, sex and robbery. To pre-occupy their down time, they invest in Video Games, like Grand Theft Auto, which big corporations promote for profit. These games are so life like, they actually simulate the real deal, “Kill or be Killed!” Our youth are evolving into killer soldiers. This couldn’t be more evident than simply watching television. Television producers slowly continue to push the envelop introducing more violence to entertain our children’s imagination. To reiterate, in my opinion I believe they are becoming de-sensitized to reality. The difficulty is trying to separate fiction from reality. Anger and retribution reside within rather than love and forgiveness. Then even more disturbing was the massacre outside of Denver, Colorado. A young man, who was studying to become a scientist, goes ballistic after planning his deliberate act to kill innocent people, simply wanting to enjoy the new Batman movie. There was absolutely nobody who could have predicted his intentions as he never showed his cards or gave any hints of his sinister plan. At a time when people need leadership, the politicians make their appearance to show compassion but who talked about gun control? In the USA, because guns are part of their Constitution, the Gun Lobby is so powerful, it becomes political suicide to even challenge them. It is all about the money and fear of a backlash. “Leaders are born not made.”

Sincerely-Philip Magnoli, my friends call me Don Filippo-The FX Specialist- www.donfilippo.ca