The Israeli-Palestinian war is already full of tragedy and death

This could make it something of epic proportions.

UN Chief Appeals for Israel to Avert a Humanitarian Catastrophe

Israel evacuation order: Tens of thousands flee northern Gaza - BBC News

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.

Some random thoughts...

• My thoughts are with the people of Paris tonight, in the wake of horrible attacks. As Ben Patrick Johnnson (@benpatrick90069 on Twitter) wrote: 'Let not the villainous actions of a few cloud our belief in the larger good of mankind.'
• My thoughts are with my co-worker, who, along with her husband and 2-year-old daughter, welcomed her newborn son into the world last night. (She managed to have him before Friday the 13th!)
• My thoughts are with my hospitalised family member, who is now off of the ventilator, thankfully. I'm going to go visit her in the morning.

Death, and life, all the points in between, we lead our lives with all the potential and failings inherent in being fully human.

A despicable act

Gunman Kills 4 at a Jewish School in France

The same gunman is suspected of killing several French soldiers, all of whom were black or Arabic. Killed were a rabbi who taught at the school, his two sons, and the daughter of the principal. A teen was injured. It happened while kids were being dropped off at the school by their parents. I cannot imagine the horror they felt as this played out, and I feel for those who lost loved ones, especially the rabbi's wife, who has lost three at once. I hope they can catch this person before there are more deaths.

Oh, good lord--there's security, and then there's stupid harassment

Meet Mikey, 8: U.S. Has Him on Watch List

The Transportation Security Administration, under scrutiny after last month’s bombing attempt, has on its Web site a “mythbuster” that tries to reassure the public.

Myth: The No-Fly list includes an 8-year-old boy.

Buster: No 8-year-old is on a T.S.A. watch list.

“Meet Mikey Hicks,” said Najlah Feanny Hicks, introducing her 8-year-old son, a New Jersey Cub Scout and frequent traveler who has seldom boarded a plane without a hassle because he shares the name of a suspicious person. “It’s not a myth.”

Michael Winston Hicks’s mother initially sensed trouble when he was a baby and she could not get a seat for him on their flight to Florida at an airport kiosk; airline officials explained that his name “was on the list,” she recalled.

The first time he was patted down, at Newark Liberty International Airport, Mikey was 2. He cried.

After years of long delays and waits for supervisors at every airport ticket counter, this year’s vacation to the Bahamas badly shook up the family. Mikey was frisked on the way there, then more aggressively on the way home.

The simple explanation of the problem is that he shares the same name as someone on that list, and airlines have been determining who should be screened by names alone. But its not a simple problem--thousands of travelers have been put through the ringer based on a similarity of name. One Canadian man went so far as to change his name to be free of harassment. Others mispell theirs, which if you think about it, any terrorist could do as well. New procedures will involve taking down dates of birth and genders of passengers, which should help. Mikey, after all, was born a month before September 11th, so that should flag him as okay. But I think there must be better ways to improve security than a list of suspicious people. It's too easy to avoid for the real culprits and too hard to avoid for the innocents.

For that matter, it's not just names. I have a co-worker who gets frisked every time, probably because she had a darker complection (I think she has American Indian in her) and looks slightly ethnic as a result. She has complained a couple of times of having to strip to her bra. Her husband, lighter complected, has no trouble.

I'm not in the business of security, so I don't have a lot of ideas for alternatives. I suppose face-recognition programs might help, although technology is never perfect either. But there are lots of people in intelligence who are paid big bucks to come up with plans for protecting us, and I think they can do better than a list where an 8-year-old can't go anywhere on a plane and enjoy a simple family vacation without being frisked.