Topic: Society

The Peacemaker Society

By Tom Paine | April 16, 2007 |

The shootings on this 16th of April, 2007, should give pause to us all. Yet another in a long line of senseless violence. But today was notable in a number of ways. First, there is the sheer number of victims — 33 dead, over 30 wounded. Then there is the fact that this was probably perpetrated by one disturbed individual. Finally, there is the types of weapons involved, two pistols; a twenty-two caliber and a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol.

I am not unfamiliar with guns. I lived for 5 years on a farm and owned several guns, a 22 semiautomatic rifle, a Ruger Mini14 semiautomatic rifle, and two pistols, a Ruger 357 magnum and a Colt 45 semiautomatic that I used for target practice. None of my weapons were ever fired in anger, but I had an intimate knowledge of firearms. So I was surprised when I learned that 33 lives were claimed by a single individual with two pistols. When I first learned about the shootings, I envisioned at least a couple of people roaming the campus with military style high powered rifles. Not so, just a single nut with two pistols.

We can expect to shortly hear from the gun nuts that we shouldn’t make it about guns and that guns don’t kill people; people kill people. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Opinion, Politics | No Comments

What’s normal?

By David W. Shelton | August 2, 2006 |

Normal.

But outside-the-norm characters are a huge sell for movies. Aren’t they? Not so sure? Well, let’s just look at some of our biggest blockbusters: «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Issues, Politics, Spirituality | No Comments