Random Thoughts and Road Trips

Just back from a couple day road trip. No news, lots of open country, and long rural roads--an excellent way to decompress from 24/7 news, recent tragedy drama and talking heads. Here's some random thoughts and questions...

• Why so many school shootings? Does it have anything to do with schools being "gun free" zones and therefore relatively defenseless targets?
• How should the media balance the public's insatiable appetite for sensationalized news (and the higher ratings and more advertising dollars that come with it) with the caution necessary to not encourage other would-be assassins with a manifesto they want publicized?
• Nothing like farm country in the spring. There is something centering about the basics of farm life--plowing, irrigating, planting--the cyclical wheel of life. Refreshing.
• Why is it that the public jumps to symptom suppression rather than dealing with underlying problems? This is often done in medicine (a person gets a cold and takes a cough suppressant instead of taking steps to improve their immune system and washing their hands to curb the spread of viruses). This is also done with gun control issues (mentally ill people--John Hinkly and the VT shooter for example--go on a shooting rampage and instantly people call for more gun control measures, meanwhile the mentally ill are roaming the streets). If the government and their gun control cronies would have put half as much effort, publicity and funding into treatment of the mentally ill (the underlying cause) as they did towards getting the Brady bill passed (the symptom), I wonder where we would be today.
• One of the students injured during the Columbine shooting was interviewed after the V Tech shooting. She noted that where ever she is, she always pays attention to the people around her, analyzes anyone new who enters the room, and is always thinking about ways to escape from where she is should it become necessary. This is good advice for everyone. Most people spend their days in a routine, semi-oblivious state. Personal safety dictates that everyone should heighten their awareness of their surroundings.