Sounds of Silence

After the shoot down and murder of almost three hundred innocent passengers and crew on a Malaysia Air 777, I was too stunned to write or say anything. Unfortunately, it's happened before, with the aggressor at least taking some responsibility. I think a variety of things have me wrangling over this incident. I'm trying to understand what it takes to gets folks riled these days. The mass murder of children seems to still do it; but all the rhetoric resulted in little or no change in regards to safety in schools. The day of this latest tragedy all the powers to be paraded on the media expressing outrage and indignation. All of this concern for the preservation of the crash scene and recovery of the black boxes will be for naught. All the voice and data recorders and debris will tell us is when and where this doomed flight met its end. We already know most of the useful information that can be gleaned from it. The most important goal should be finding and prosecuting those responsible. Unless something extraordinary occurs and the world is offered a "sacrificial lamb", I fear that will never happen. I have long said that all the rhetoric and goodwill in the universe will not result in peace as long as your average "Joe blow" has access to instruments of mass (and indiscriminate) murder. We are seeing and experiencing what should be a "wake up call";  weapons capable of raining unimaginable death and destruction in the hands of zealots and radicals. I have known some shady characters and never have been offered a machine gun or plastic explosive(s). I have no idea how to get the genie back in the bottle. The news last night finished with a poignant overview of the missile system that purportedly took down the Malaysian Air jetliner. It showed how the operator is ensconced inside the vehicle with no view to the outer world; simply a radar screen and some switches and buttons. Death and destruction at the flip of a switch; indiscriminate and without remorse.  There are at least forty conflicts currently in progress in the world today. Like a forest fire I see it eventually spreading and us getting caught up in the conflagration. Like a lot of you out there, I'm not sure how to express my outrage. But I refuse to be silent-hopefully this blog expresses that.