Ever been the victim of a hate crime? Not a lot of people have unless you belong to some sort of minority group. As defined in the 1999 National Crime Victim Survey, "A hate crime is a criminal offense committed against a person or property motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender's bias against a racial group, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, or disability. The offense is considered a hate crime whether or not the offender's perception of the victim as a member or supporter of a protected group is correct."

This past weekend a couple of friends from Nova Scotia and I went moose hunting with a small team of youth from Listuguj. When you take youth hunting it is an unparalleled opportunity to teach them not just how to shoot shit, but about the whole culture and tradition of hunting. Hunting can also teach youth the ethical use of natural resources. A hunt is also a fabulous place to teach respect for all living things and to introduce kids to the natural world. Our kids certainly need more connection to the land and this past weekend was an excellent opportunity to do just that.

Now for the HATE CRIME. Own our way home after spending a day in the bush my truck “bit the biscuit,” about 6 kilometers from the nearest town. Unable to do anything at the time other then hike out we had to leave the truck behind until the next day. Upon returning the next morning, I discovered that my truck had been vandalized. Thats right vandalized.  A few years ago I would have been pretty upset and miffed about why my truck was selected for such an act of cowardliness. However my reaction was surprisingly different which continues to shocked me. Okay so my truck is not brand-new so the damage that was done was minor. Aside from a broken side mirror and some minor dents to the body where it was kicked, my war pony held up pretty well.

Interestingly enough, I felt more sorry for the fuckers who smashed my truck then the damage to the truck itself. Does this make sense? Am I getting soft as I get older? All good questions don’t you think? I guess had we caught the fuckers in action they would have been the ones with something broken and it would have been their picture on this blog as opposed to my truck but we didn’t.

Our world is changing and I actually feel sorry for the ignorant bastards who haven't caught on to the fact that HATE CRIMES only discredits those who perpetrate them.