YET another slaughter of the innocents in the USA. This time a crazed 20 year old guns down 26 young pupils and staff at a Connecticut school after shooting his mother. Sadly it won’t be the last.
Every time it occurs the cry goes up “Something must be done to stop this kind of carnage”. But nothing happens because of the power of the gun lobby. It seems the first thing American parents teach their offspring is not the alphabet but how to fire a gun.
It has emerged that the mother was a paranoid ”survivalist” who believed the world was on the verge of collapse and had been storing provisions and guns at their home. The real problem is that it is just as easy over there to acquire enough powerful weapons to equip a one-man army as it is to buy a hamburger. Until there is tighter control they will continue to suffer this kind of tragedy.
President Obama has pledged something will be done. The world and the American people will be waiting to see whether his words will be translated into action.
PENSIONERS are extremely grateful for the free travel passes they get, for without them many would become housebound because of the high cost of fares. A friend of ours who recently moved from Northampton to Kent had a delightful surprise when she applied for a similar pass there. She was issued with a freedom pass which can be used for rail as well as bus travel, very handy for nipping upto London when the pocket permits. Northampton please copy, Some hope!
CLERICS are often irreverently called sky pilots. It’s now an apt description for two of them in Northamptonshire after the Rev Rod Lee was licensed as the chaplain to Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service by the Bishop of Brixworth, the Rt Rev John Holbrook, in an appliance 100ft from the ground at the Moulton headquarters. I wonder if the ceremony included a hymn. A suitable one would have been “Nearer my God to thee”!
A happy Christmas and peaceful New Year to all my readers. But it looks as if the spirit of Scrooge will be abroad this time as most of us try to cut down on unnecessary spending. Fewer cards, for example. are popping through the letter box, indicating perhaps people are waiting to see who sends them one before returning the compliment.
Ps: A welcome present for bus users would be the repair of the escalators at the Greyfriars station.
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