Heartbreak in Orlando

One again we mourn the victims of another brutal attack, this time on our own soil. Once again the innocent suffer. Once again, I really, really want to climb up on a soapbox and scream about the senselessness of it all. But once again I remind myself that the people who need to hear it won't listen, and the people who'll listen don't need to hear it.

My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Orlando, Florida, USA.


If you read this blog with any regularity, then you know that I'm just a geeky engineer. But you should also know that I love this particular bit of poetry, which is as appropriate now as it was when I put it up after the Brussels attacks:

The Law of the Jungle
(From The Jungle Book)
by Rudyard Kipling

Now this is the Law of the Jungle --
as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper,
but the Wolf that shall break it must die.

As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk
the Law runneth forward and back --
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf,
and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

Stay strong. Stay united. Watch each others' backs. Remember, you don't have to agree with each other on every issue - or even like each other, for that matter - to live in peace together. People from one corner of the globe to the other have forgotten this simple truth. Americans, in particular, ought to remember this tidbit from the end of the Pledge of Allegiance:

With Liberty and Justice for All

Peace for Paris

I could go on a tirade about senseless violence and the cowards that perpetrate it, but that would be contrary to the upbeat and positive nature of my blog that I try to maintain.

Instead, I offer my deepest condolences to the people of Paris, and all of France, for your loss. I speak for no one but myself, of course, but I'm certain many people across the globe echo my sentiment when I say, "I'm with you."

Stand Strong. Stand Together.

Never Stop.