On Newton

I found out about the Newton tragedy while sitting in the parking lot at Natalie's school, watching the pre-k class file in to the building after lunch. The incongruity of it, the senselessness, the pain - it was too much to take. It still is.

The following is what I'd share via Facebook, but my Facebook is bound up with my employer. So I'm putting this stuff on here, on my personal blog. 

1. Newton and the Madness of Guns. This is Adam Gopnik at his best (forget Paris to the Moon). I really, really encourage you to go read this link; it's short, and you can skip the comments. I almost don't want to quote it, because I really, really feel like the whole piece is worth reading. But, well, this has been stuck in my head for weeks now:

Whatever satisfaction gun owners take from their guns—we know for certain that there is no prudential value in them—is more important than children’s lives. Give them credit: life is making moral choices, and that’s a moral choice, clearly made.

2. Silencing the Science on Gun Research. You know what I like? Science. Peer-reviewed research. Policy that is informed by both of the above. This piece is from the Journal of the American Medical Association, and it concerns CDC funding. These are our taxes at work. Or not, as it were.

3. Million Kids March. The planning for this looks like it's still in its infancy, but I think it will happen. Other than a certain inauguration four years ago, I've never wanted to do the whole giant-crowds-on-the-mall thing. But I would do it for this. The timing may not work for me, what with the whole baby-coming-any-day situation, but I hope that you'll consider attending. Or consider supporting it financially.

4. I happened across this 1997 Cheryl Wheeler song the other day.

If we, as a nation, can't get it together to restrict assault weapons, it will be a sad day.