Have been really busy lately, but I needed to come by here and linger some this afternoon.

I can usually maintain a cold detachment from all sorts of horrors, but today's events in CT have me at my desk fighting back tears.

(Edit: Sorry, got nothing appropriate for a top of page image today...)

Mark

Can someone please post a picture that takes us to a happier place on this darkest of days. Gutted.

What kind of society do we have that believes that killing another human being, let alone children, is justified in any way?

For those who went west today....

Slug,

Hope this will help brighten your day. I sure gave my girl an extra big hug after today's events. I just can't understand the raw anger, and to take it out on children. We seem to have lost the value of life in our society, very sad indeed.

Dan

Thanks Paul, much appreciated.
Cheers
Harry

Dan.
Thats really a neat photo. What breed is the four legged friend ? Very interesting color with the rust head, etc.
Thanks
Harry

No words for what happened today. I can't imagine what those families are going through.

Harry,

Belle, is a Wired Haired Pointing Griffon. Didn't know what one was either until moving to Iowa last year. The neighbor has one and we fell in love with it, and it's disposition. Just a wonderful bread and we got Belle from the same breeder as the neighbors. Best part is since it's not common, it's not overbred. Very health, and they have a wonderful nose on them too!! Belle is all about birds when she's not just being a sweet loving companion.

Dan

Still in South Carolina. After yesterday's cold and gray day on the water, today we had a beautiful, crisp day. My sister and her husband arrived at the yacht basin out front of where Marcia and I are staying; after they tied up and answered questions for the admirers on the dock we went out and walked the wildlife refuge again. Not many birds this time of year, but we did find a cardinal working the grassy edge of a saltwater pond.

My heart goes out to the families of the little ones lost today in CT, may they rest in peace.

Dear MA2A Family,

You don't have to be a Christian to recognize that our world is fallen and it isn't headed in the direction of improvement. There is no picture, even from our wonderfully talented family, that can begin to knock the dust off the terrible events of today. How anyone could be so hate filled and angry that a course of action like this is even considered is far beyond the grasp of most human beings, and so is making any semblance of sense out of it.

What that little town, it's children, parents, grandparents, residents, now have to deal with is unthinkable, unimaginable, and heartbreaking. The unfortunate commonality in these types of events is the fact that the perpetrators, so possessed by evil, don't train their weapons on themselves first, and save the world the loss and grief their venom spreads.

There is nothing we can do about these events, but pray for the families, the towns, the first responders who must see all this from far too close, for everyone who will deal with the loss and the ramifications of today's events, for generations to come. We can also love more, hug more, value each other more, let the little stuff go, hell, let the big stuff go, in contrast, it's all little stuff.

Slug69 wrote:
Can someone please post a picture that takes us to a happier place on this darkest of days.

As Jim said, pictures can't begin to heal the wounds created today, but will try to fulfill the request as best I can with some I have.

Beautiful Brian, so glad you joined the, you're a fine addition to our family.

Funny how the Words in a two thousand year old book are still so comforting and relevant....................

I disagree Jim that there is nothing Americans can do for the families of he victims of this incredible tragedy.
If every American spoke up wanting guns removed from people with no need for them it would be a start.
It's 2012 and there have been 15 mass shootings in the US this year...15.
All by people with EASY access to weapons many designed for the military but available to the general public.
How is it you can buy an automatic assault rifle?
What possible "need" is there for someone "wanting" a weapon solely designed for killing people?
Again it's 2012 and the "need" for holding guns is long past.
If you cannot see that carrying weapons and the easy access to them does not make you any safer only less safe then take a look at the rest of the world.
With 84 dead this year in mass shootings alone and now 20 children and teachers cut down by another assault weapon wielding gunman maybe just maybe if he couldn't buy a gun designed only for efficient killing this would not of occurred.
He may have got access to a handgun somehow but you can never kill as efficiently with one than an assault rifle.
The right to bare arms was written how many generations ago and in a world so different than the one we live in today as to be irrelevant other than the greed of gun owners and the gun lobby.
The right to own a gun or the right for you to live safely which would you prefer?
As guns have proven to offer no aspect of safety to any member of the general community.
Guns as evidenced guarrantee nothing,not safety,not security.
Having been on the inside of an operation at Australia's biggest shooting in which 35 died seeing the carnage first hand would change anyone's mind about giving guns to everyone.
Tragic to see one of the worlds great countries suffering after what has happened.
If only one positive comes from it it will be the removal of weapons designed for the mass efficient killing of people from a society that should have no need or use for them in 2012.
I'm sure some will disagree but you can't have free access to guns without frequent events like yesterday.
Free access to assault weapons means killings like yesterday will continue..take your choice guns or mass murders of innocent people..pretty easy decision really.
Sorry but it has to be said.

The people in Chicago do not have the right to guns. Now, since Chicago continues to have the highest gun violence in our nation, tell me how those enormous numbers of people and children killed and wounded are safer?

Next I am sure you will say the guns have to be banned all over the US to be effective. We do that for illegal drugs now, how is that working out.

People against guns always miss the obvious root cause, it isn't guns (BTW, did you read about the fellow in China who slashed 22 children and adults with a knife at a school?). It is people's attitude toward life and the living.

Sorry, but it has to be said.

Guns don't kill people. There were an additional 20 people slashed yesterday in Japan by a student wielding a knife. Do you suggest we ban knives?

You go off on a rant without fully understanding what you're ranting about. You say that the problem is the access to automatic assault weapons, the weapons used are being reported as being 2 handguns, and a SEMI-automatic 223 bushmaster, not automatic weapons.

The events of yesterday are horrific, but to blame the guns for killing people is like blaming mcdonalds for making people fat...you're not even close to the root of the problem.

The actions of yesterday were the result of a failing of the system, a failing of safe storage, a failing of a mother (RIP) to understand when her child wasn't normal, or when he showed warning signs of being unstable.

I live in a country obsessed with gun control, and I own guns, and I respect guns, as do millions of people in North America alone. The problem isn't with gun ownership, it's with unresponsible gun ownership, and bad parenting.

On a different topic...if anyone wants a glimpse at the silliness that is going on with our F-35 purchase up here north of the 49th

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2012/12/13/feds-told-truth-on-f-35-opposition-really-about-clipping-air-force-wings

JWilsonphoto wrote:
Dear MA2A Family,

You don't have to be a Christian to recognize that our world is fallen and it isn't headed in the direction of improvement. There is no picture, even from our wonderfully talented family, that can begin to knock the dust off the terrible events of today. How anyone could be so hate filled and angry that a course of action like this is even considered is far beyond the grasp of most human beings, and so is making any semblance of sense out of it.

What that little town, it's children, parents, grandparents, residents, now have to deal with is unthinkable, unimaginable, and heartbreaking. The unfortunate commonality in these types of events is the fact that the perpetrators, so possessed by evil, don't train their weapons on themselves first, and save the world the loss and grief their venom spreads.

There is nothing we can do about these events, but pray for the families, the towns, the first responders who must see all this from far too close, for everyone who will deal with the loss and the ramifications of today's events, for generations to come. We can also love more, hug more, value each other more, let the little stuff go, hell, let the big stuff go, in contrast, it's all little stuff.



very eloquent Jim. Thank you.

If anyone was planning on touring the museum here, several galleries are closed while they clean up some fuel they discovered was still in one of the planes:

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123330107

My prayers go out to those in Newtown and to the brother of the shooter, who has nothing more to do with the events than being related to the shooter and his first victim. Their grandmother (mother of their mother) is still alive in Florida and also has my prayers in this very difficult time.

It's not about guns. We live in a world where daily someone uses explosives to kill innocent, somewhere else it's a knife, yes guns are used too, but also clubs, stones and anything else that can be turned into a weapon. We live in a world that increasingly de-values life and it seems that is the core issue.

Dan