The Nature of Things

‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens  SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, TX—In the hours following a violent rampage in Texas in which a lone attacker killed 27 individuals and seriously injured several others, citizens living in the only country where this kind of mass killing routinely occurs reportedly concluded Sunday that there was no way to prevent the massacre from taking place. “This was a terrible tragedy, but sometimes these things just happen and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop them,” said Kansas resident Britt Mulvanos, echoing sentiments expressed by tens of millions of individuals who reside in a nation where over half of the world’s deadliest mass shootings have occurred in the past 50 years and whose citizens are 20 times more likely to die of gun violence than those of other developed nations. “It’s a shame, but what can we do? There really wasn’t anything that was going to keep this individual from snapping and killing a lot of people if ...

I first posted this just over a year ago on June 13, 2016, when our country was shocked, shocked by another mass shooting. I could have posted it almost every day since and it would not have been out of order, for the truth is hardly a day goes by in this country when we don't have a mass murder with guns. But by now it has to be something truly spectacular - like 59 people dead and over 500 injured - to get our attention. And a further truth is that it will continue. There will be another and another and... What would it take to jolt our representatives in Washington into action? ~~~ Monday, June 13, 2016 Thoughts and prayers won't stop bullets So, here we are again.  Another day, another massacre.   Once again, we see cynical politicians offering their "thoughts and prayers" for the victims of another mass shooting,  often on Twitter . With one hand they send their sorrowful tweets and the other they hold out for their payoffs from the NRA for offering  nothing b...