Each life was important, and should be remembered

Anderson Cooper's emotional tribute to victims

Please listen as he reads the names, and tells something of each one of them, if known. The one that got me the most, for whatever reason, was Brenda Lee Marquez McCool. She was 49 years old--the same age I am. She had eleven kids, and had beaten cancer twice. One of her sons was gay, and she was so supportive that they often went to Pulse together to dance. That night, she died. He lived, and I'm sure it's torn him up completely.

As Cooper said, these were people who 'loved and were loved'. They had families and friends. They had dreams to chase. Many of them were very young--one was just 18. They seemed to have their whole lives ahead of them, but were cut down by a gunman who somehow seems to be an intersection in a complex diagramme of hate crime, terrorism, mental illness--all the usual suspects in mass murder, rolled up into one.

This incident has weighed heavily on me all of today; I could barely concentrate at work. So many lives cut short, due to a type of mentality that is incomprehensible to everyone I've talked to. It's so sad. Please, do not let these men and women become merely statistics. They were vibrant people who made a difference to those around them. Several were partners who died together. We need to remember their names, and more to the point, we need to take steps to make sure it's a lot harder for this sort of thing to happen again. Thank you, Anderson Cooper. You put the emphasis where it needed to be--the dead, rather than the gunman. Those names have meaning. Those names were lives lost.

A heavy heart today

I have spent much of today absorbing the news about the ‪‎Orlando shooting‬ at a gay nightclub. At present reports, 50 people lost their lives, and over 50 were wounded. Each of those victims had people who love them, each life is precious, each death and injury changes things so quickly. It is the worst mass shooting in the U.S. ever, and seems to have had elements of hate crime and terrorism in terms of the actions of the shooter and those targeted. I am very sad over all of this. Here are my (admittedly unsorted) thoughts. One, I don't believe anyone really needs an AR-15, as it's only really good for acts like this-- I'm not saying to take all the guns away from folks who are rabid about guns, I just mean, really, there is only one thing this type of gun is used for, and that's mass casualties. Two, my heart goes out to those affected directly and indirectly by this tragedy, including those killed and injured, their families and friends, the people of Orlando, and yes, the family of the young man who did this horrible act. who lost a son, husband, and father, as well. They are all suffering. Third, actions speak louder than words or tweets. I was planning on giving blood soon (we have a drive scheduled for the 30th), and was going to go in earlier, but apparently they have what is needed for now in Orlando, so I'll keep to the original schedule. But I've gone to gay bars, I have dearly loved people in my life I love who are gay. This hits home. I feel I should do something. Prayers and thoughts and Facebook posts are fine, but in reality what each of us needs to do is take small actions each and every day against hate and intolerance on a daily basis, and do what we can to make the world a kinder, gentler place, and that includes voting for people who work to do so rather than blowhards who use mass murder to shore themselves up further.

[Found on the ACLU of Northern California's Facebook page; not sure if they made it or if they just shared someone else's graphic, but it really does sum up things.]

Go hug someone you love and tell the person they're loved. Go on, go do it now.