Another Week Gone By: July 22, 2012

Image: Flickr/djokomuljanto

Some of us are wondering if a sensible conversation about guns will ever take place — or are we, as a nation, too far gone. After all, the NRA is one of the most powerful organisations in America; congressmen are theirs for the picking. In this culture, violence is brought out into the open and it is glorified while, simultaneously, mental health issues are still swept under the rug.

No matter what ends up being discussed, and no matter what policies are formulated as the result of this tragedy, our condolences are with the families and friends of those lost to yet another senseless act of gun violence. May the residents of Aurora, Colorado heal and come to know peace once again.

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When something as heinous as the Aurora shooting takes place, so much of what we place importance on falls by the wayside. It helps to focus our priorities on how valuable life is and realise that it’s too precious to waste.

When all is said and done the things that many of us have in common are the need to feel safe, secure and free from violence so that we can enjoy the gift of life.

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Here’s a recap of what you may have missed this week; don’t miss a chance to read and comment on these topics:

Thoughts about our prospective leader, Mitt Romney:

• Ed Gillespie made one of the most ridiculous statements ever heard during a campaign. Too bad it wasn’t “retroactive”.
• We decided to take a look at what would happen if we could change things for the better — retroactively, of course.
• What about Mitt’s potential running mate, Bobby Jindal?
• And another potential running mate…though we’re certain this one, Condoleezza Rice, was a smoke screen to distract from all of the non-answers about his offshore funds.  He can’t run…and he can’t hide.

The current administration:

• When is it time to compromise, and when is it time to go to battle using the opponent’s tactics?
• We need to re-evaluate those nations to whom we have given the label “friend”
• But we also need to figure out how to not be isolationists while protecting industry in this country.
• The difference between disagreeing with political platforms and outcomes, vs. race-based disdain for a candidate.

Maybe we can try learning from others:

• Canadian health care, part 2: Are we really going to behave as though ‘socialism’ and ‘socialised medicine’ are the same thing?
• Female rights around the world: we can’t effectively build nations when a significant percentage of the population is stifled.
• Sermon from an atheist: some of the most harsh political acts go against everything the leaders claim they believe in.
• Ageism in the workplace: ‘old’ and ‘of little value’ are most certainly not the same thing.
• And we can rethink what we consider ‘funny’.

Moving along, we have bigger things to think about than Mitt’s (hidden and un-taxed) assets:

• Climate change and extreme weather.
• Protecting our oceans from over-fishing.
• Caring for those that share the planet with us: cultural rituals that result in killing animals.

Enjoy the catch-up reading!