A man with a grudge,
Whether that grudge was religious, personal or " political" we don't quite know.
But 50 people are now dead.
Killed by automatic gun fire in a soft target night club.
When will it stop?
I was going to post a happy, funny post today.
A post of a safe ordinary life in a safe ordinary Welsh village.
But I can't.
I don't feel like it.
Orlando Should be as safe as Trelawnyd
So so sad. I find it hard to feel positive about my fellow humans when I hear about hate crimes like this. The photo of people queuing around the block to donate blood to the victims went some way to restoring my faith in humanity.
ReplyDeleteIn this country gay men ( in a sexual relationship) cannot give blood
DeleteSame is true here, but I hreard the local agencies in Orlando are ignoring that rule today.
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DeleteI know exactly how you feel. It never seems to end in this country, it just seems to get quiet for a while until the next one. It sickens me. My children have to grow up in this world, where you cant go to a concert or dance club or soccer match without the fear that some lunatic might be carrying an AR15 and a murderous rage.
ReplyDeleteTrelawnyd sounds lovely right about now. Got room for a few Yanks in your town?
The Pedestrian Writer
Always chris..always.....i'll even deliver you some eggs and a few of auntie glad's scones
DeleteWe will be queueing around the block if a cottage comes up for sale down there
DeleteIt's so obvious that it's discrimination against gays, at least that is what the information we have is indicating. Beyond sad and horrifying. There simply are not enough adequate words in any language to offer condolences to the families of all involved - but we try, we try.
ReplyDeletesome reports say the shooter had a "problem seeing two men kissing". GET OVER IT! and get rid of the damn guns too; ALL OF THEM! sometimes I h8 this fucking country of mine...
ReplyDeleteYou know my thoughts on guns AM
Deleteyou and I share the same thoughts on those killing items.
DeleteThis week is the anniversary of the shooting in a black church in Charleston, South Carolina last year, when a white supremacist killed nine people at a Bible study. I wonder if there is a day in the year when we do not keep the anniversary of a mass shooting in this country. And after every one, sane people say, "Well, this time things will change."
ReplyDeleteThey don't.
If it doesnt change for dead children or dead church goers michael, it wont change for 50 gay and gay friendly people
DeleteI woke up to this, what a sad day.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the latest it was a terrorism by an ISIS supporter.
They have been targeting the LBGT in their countries and now America. Just an act of hate.
I can't even sign off with my usual cheers today.
gayle
Very true, John. A terrible day indeed.
ReplyDeleteLove love love love love love love love love -
ReplyDeletewhat is so threatening about that?
I do not understand why some waste so much time on hate.
when will this country do something about it's gun laws?
ReplyDeleteNEVER as long as our guvmint kisses the ass of the NRA.
DeleteTwo steps forward and one back 😕 the evil that mankind does to one another beggars belief sometimes x
ReplyDeleteIn other news, a man with a car full of explosives was arrested en route to a Los Angeles Pride parade. They're saying it's unrelated to the Orlando event, which doesn't exactly make me feel better.
ReplyDeleteGay pride is gonna be ever more proud this year me thinks
DeleteEarly reports said explosives. Since been changed to an assault rifle.
DeleteEntire world now rallying to LGBT cause. That's something.
Poofs revolting!
DeleteThey have unleashed hell! Lol
Sickening. Just sickening. I can't think of anything else to say I'm so appalled by this.
ReplyDeleteshed a few tears over this coverage , when will they learn in the USA that there gun laws are idiocy and hate meaarly begets hate
ReplyDeleteI learned it long ago. I was brought up in a home where my father did not allow guns. Not even a brother-in-law who was a deputy sheriff could come in the house with his gun. The problem is the power of the NRA. No politician can get away with not bowing to them. I HATE GUNS! People with guns kill people, and they do it easily. It's so stupid to say that guns don't kill. If people couldn't get guns so easily, then maybe they'd have to give up their murderous plans, or at least they'd have to work a lot harder to carry them out and they might give up.
DeleteLove,
Janie
It's just unbelievable and retched....
ReplyDeleteI began by thinking that the perpetrator may have been Christian, but it turns out he is most likely Moslem.
ReplyDeleteA couple of days after that girl singer was shot in Orlando as well.
Fucking hell - so much for live and let live.
They are not reading our blogs thomas.........whats up with rachel btw?
DeleteOrlando is not a safe place in spite of the strong Disney presence. If people go there for a Disney vacation, they should stay on the Disney grounds and not go anywhere else. That doesn't mean they're completely safe, though. People are injured in the Disney parks, but Orlando judges and juries are not sympathetic to injured tourists. Disney is almighty.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
They will be shooting in disneyworld next
DeleteThat could very well happen. No one is safe. I realized a few minutes ago that this shooting is great fodder for that moron Trump because the killer allegedly pledged himself to ISIS. Trump already wants to kick out everyone who isn't lily white.
DeleteAnd now a young boy is missing, grabbed by an alligator at a Disney resort. And it has come out, the shooter was looking at "Downtown Disney". No where is safe.
DeleteWoke up to this sad, sad news. The worst mass shooting yet in this country...it sickens me.
ReplyDeleteMy heart breaks for the families.
A horrific act of unspeakable ignorance.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who goes to that club once in awhile - thank goodness for facebook's safe feature that lets people know right away if someone is okay by the press of button; she let us know she wasnt there last night but that it is crazy where she lives because she's blocks away... :(
ReplyDeleteIt was suppose to be a "safe" place - a place where you can go dance (it was latino night) have fun, most importantly be yourself and it would be safe to be yourself... SAFE. My heart hurts.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSocial media has also been heartbreaking for some of the relatives waiting outside of the club ...awful awful
DeleteI wanted to add - Hate made it unsafe. Hate that had no place being there. Today love and caring are taking over - there is a 6 hour waiting line for people to donate blood to the survivors. Love wins EVERY time.
ReplyDeleteSickening, I have nothing else to say xx
ReplyDeleteHatred is dividing our planet...some of those individuals use "words" others use guns...they are both the same. I'm with Chris...can I come to stay?
ReplyDeleteA village full of bloggers......
DeleteWe would be stealing each others blog entries
Heartbreaking and so sickening.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts are with everyone involved except the gunman obviously Xx
My thoughts have been of him....what happens to these people to change them into monsters?
DeleteThey are already monsters, then somebody sells them a gun with "limited background checks"! We will never be a great nation until we limit the guns and the number of hate spewing politicians. Don't get me started!
DeleteWTF with some Humans...just so puzzling and frightening and when will we ever develop and learn and love and stop all this hate?
ReplyDeleteBeen so sad here today. Have family and friends in Orlando (all ok but some of them have other friends they haven't heard from yet). It's chaos in Orlando right now.
ReplyDeleteTook down my post today and put up one for Orlando.
Thank you for your thoughts John. The world is indeed a sad place at times.
I to
Orlando was my home town from 1980 to 1995. I fear finding familiar names on the victims list when it comes out. 25 years ago, I would likely have been in that crowd on a Saturday might.
ReplyDeleteI hope not david i hope not
Deleteit is time for push back. Take all that is good in your ordinary, safe village and spread it a few inches beyond the boundaries and then a few inches more. In similar places all over the world people of goodwill slowly spreading outward until there is no room left for the evil in men's hearts.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sad twisted individual. My heart goes out to the victims, their families and friends.
ReplyDeleteHow I wish this was unbelievable. And how grateful I am for our gun control. While grieving for the lost.
ReplyDeleteMay the lost ones rest in peace and may Omar Mateen rot in hell.
ReplyDeleteAm totally gutted.
ReplyDeleteHe was/is mentally ill. But able to have a gun. No sense in that at all.I despair.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the guns, it's not the homophobia -
ReplyDeleteit's the raw grim fact that America caters to these Muslim terrorists and welcomes them into our country. Time to think about closing the borders - - only it's far too fricking late!!!
Jon , he was born in the US ......its how they are radicalized that we need to learn
DeleteThat's true - but His parents weren't from the U.S. He was raised in a Muslim culture, which has fierce hatred for homosexuality. It is painfully obvious that multicultural societies cannot exist without serious conflicts.
DeleteAgreed ..if they live in a homo friendly country they should accept it !
DeleteI live in a multicultural society with lots of muslims and there have been some weak terror plots here but no gay hate. it's a dangerous thing to conflate homophobia and multiculturalism all wrapped up in a gun mad culture
DeleteIt may be ISIS, it may be homophobia, but at the end of the day it's a very sick mind.
DeleteMy youngest daughter is gay and recently got engaged. She is also a teacher, and when her class spotted "the ring", she was showered with love and good wishes. If these young people can be so accepting and non-judgemental, maybe this stupid, pointless hate will one day be over.
ReplyDeleteI have no words that can convey how sick the shooting makes me feel, just deep sadness for ordinary folk who were enjoying a night out x
My daughter is 6 years old ....when I explained to her that men can marry men and women can marry women, her reply was amazing .
ReplyDelete.."as long as you love them , and as long as you care for each other, it's ok to marry anyone " .......it was when she asked about marrying the dog that I had to pull her up
Funny jason, she said last week that " you're lucky you married your friend"
DeleteMy daughter was going to marry her daddy lol ... She asked him to marry her when she was 5 . He told her he would wait until she got out of school and could drive a car. :)
ReplyDeleteSaddened and sickened by the world we live in tonight. The news was just so sad.
ReplyDeleteIt's absolutely appalling and shows once again that homophobia is still rife, whatever some people may think. Apparently his father said he got "very angry" when he saw two men kissing in downtown Miami. Another mind twisted by hate and ignorance.
ReplyDeleteI need to know that some practicing muslims accept homosexualy .....a ray of light
DeleteHate + guns. A terrible combination.
ReplyDeleteThis murderous attack comes down to the insane gun laws that exist in the US.....or lack of. The 2nd amendment be damned. People's lives are more important than any amendment. The US appears to be going crazy or having a major breakdown right before our eyes.
ReplyDeleteThank you, John. The news is insane. Thank you for sharing here a kinder corner of the world.
ReplyDeleteI despair for the future of humanity. I feel so sad.
ReplyDelete:-(
There are no words ....... Children in school, people in church, shoppers, night club attendees, college students, movie goers, politicians, family members, no one is safe in the land of the free, home of the guns.
ReplyDeleteI keep hoping that as the generations go by, there will come a time when the only religion will be "love one another" and there will be no more tragedies like this. I think we're still very far from that, though.
ReplyDeleteJohn Lennon sang.... Imagine.... He was lost to a mad man too
Delete"I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
ReplyDeleteSo it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned
With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.
Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains,—but the best is lost.
The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love,—
They are gone. They are gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled
Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.
Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know.
But I do not approve. And I am not resigned."
-Edna St. Vincent Millay
Dirge without music
Ohhh, that is so beautiful and so right. xxx
DeleteThe saddest news today I thought times were changing for the better, it's like one step forward and 2 steps back. I'm trying to convince myself that there are more good people in the world than bad. At least here on your blog John we see the other side a loving community.
ReplyDeleteMargo I certainly can see your point! But let's give a mental hug to all those people who went above and beyond to help their fellow man and render aid. Yes, it's appalling but the response has been heart warming. The outrage expressed is true and heartfelt from everywhere. People have stood for 11 hours in the rain for a chance to donate blood in Orlando. I'm proud of this!
ReplyDeleteOrlando should be safe. It is the happiest place on Earth. It is the home to Disney and Universal Studios. We go there to vacation. To leave the stress of an evil world behind us. Only now it isn't. There's nothing but tears. The peace that our fathers and nations fought for a little less than a century ago is eroding.
ReplyDeleteNo words ...... just tears!!
ReplyDeleteIt should. (((John)))
ReplyDeleteJust heard from a young gay muslim on our news here who feels threatened by being gay and by being a muslim in Donald Trumps America. I really feel for him and his husband. I'm glad I live in Canada at the same time though all the Americans I have met are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI have only ever seen guns at Edinburgh airport police patrolling. Nave never seen anyone with a gun, not the culture, nut jobs here carry knifes!. Deadly but at least stand a chance.
ReplyDeleteGood will prevail over evil!.
Billy Connollys video about terrorists trying to blow up Glasgow airport is hysterical and true!. Good overcame evil that day!. Watch it!.
It was the look of bitter resignation on President Obama's face as he spoke about yet another massacre by a gun carrying idiot. Surely there comes a time when the right to carry a weapon is superseded by the right of people not to be killed just because someone gets in a snit about something they see.
ReplyDeleteWe all have to stand up against hatred. Every time without fail.
ReplyDeleteProblem is huge in US, apparently there are 4 guns in circulation for every person. Crazy stuff!. Why I would never ever visit America.
ReplyDeleteOur police don,t carry guns, except airport and exceptional circumstances, so criminals don,t feel the need to match gun power
ReplyDeleteNot the culture.
What scares me most is the hatred and intolerance that has ALWAYS been prevalent in America, not the guns.
ReplyDeleteI feel such despair about the U.S. There is just more hatred and devisiveness with people like Trump to stir it up and make it worse.
ReplyDeleteAs a US citizen, I cannot understand why a hunter or non military or non police person can buy high powered bullets that can penetrate multiple bodies. What kind of squirrels are you hunting? I heard that the murderer used this type of bullet.
ReplyDeleteI didn't understand why our police departments needed battle tanks with water cannons to combat crime. Now, I understand better about the tanks, but I still don't like that they have them and can use them against us. I don't like it but I understand the necessity of it.
If you want a gun, fine, but not a semi automatic and not with high powered murder bullets etc. The sad thing is that there are already so many millions of this type of weapon in the US that a black market would spring up to fill the demand. It's great to see people lining up to give blood, but it's too damned late for the dead and their families and friends. We need to proactively stop the violence before it comes to this. We must vocalize our abhorrence to semi automatic weapons and high powered ammunition, including hollow tipped bullets. If you want to hunt and kill things and harvest their carcasses, knock your socks off as long it's legal, but your right to buy guns ends with my right and the rights of others to live in safety and peace.
Let's stop this madness, now.
Oh flip I hate America . People lining up to give blood got paid!.
ReplyDeleteCrazy country, Europe does not understand you!.
I'm so appalled how this has been used by those trying to get elected as president of that country.
ReplyDeleteWhat ever his motive the overriding thing is that he had easy access to the weapons. I simply fail to grasp the USA collective psyche on gun ownership.
When we had the Dunblane killing here we decided as a nation that nobody needs a handgun so we outlawed them - and strictly control their use at gunclubs for competition. In Australia after the killing in Tasmania in 1996 strict gun laws were introduced. Just look at the stats regarding multiple shootings in the UK and Australia since then.
Sigh.... but when nothing was done to control weapons when the killings at Sandy Hook school happened you doubt any atrocity will have any effect now.
Totally agree!
ReplyDelete