Another Wasted Day - Save yourselves from being murdered

Today is another sad day.

You all know about Virginia Tech already and the mass murder there. The 19th school massacre in the past 10 years in the US.

What madness is this?

I am sure that you already knw about the ones that happened in the UK and Australia as well in recent years - Hungerford, Port Arthur, Dunblane.

What about The Russian armageddon at Beslan as well? Or the last one in Lancaster County when the Amish kids were murdered.

My mind is just too battered and bruised to see what the point of any of these things are.

It is as if there is an invisible demon wandering amongst us just looking for children to slaughter.

But there isn't.

There are just lunatics who can get their hands on weapons. Nothing more. It is not some spectral emmince destryoing our world.

It is us.

When I heard about the disaster I sighed - like always - and wondered how things had go to this stage. This morning - a few hours after the event it seems that the murderer was upset because his girlfriend had dumped him for another guy.

When that happened to me I had a cry in private and then got on with my life. I didn't have a gun so I didn't kill my rival suitor. In fact, we are now friends and I like to think that we will always be so. I like him a lot more than his wife; which tells me that we aren't always very perceptive when it comes to love and matters of the heart. If I had killed him the world would have been a poorer place. He lives, she lives, and so do their 2 kids and a million happy memories that I could have snuffed out if I had lived in Virginia and had access to a gun. Thats why you don't need guns.

But the thing about Virginia Tech that has struck me the most is the way the students reacted.

They closed the doors and looked at the internet.

Not one hero emerged. Not one extra ordinary individual has been cited. There was no brave soul willing to risk trying to save his fellows. Instead they remained in their dorms googling like mad and hoping to survive.

Victims of virtual reality.

Let me tell you people. If you are one of the new ipod generation that grew up with video carnage on PS2 and HI DEF Tarrantino movies where heads are severed with Katana's for entertainment you are so desensitised that you will sit like rats in a lab until some fanatic comes and blows you away. Like all victims you are willing to submit yourselves to the ultimate sanction without fear becasue it has become a normal part of your day.

CSI is not real.
Kill Bill is not real.
Resevoir Dogs is not real.
The Godfather is not real.

You should change things. It is in your interest. It is simple self preservation.

When your skin feels the burn of real sunlight and the sweat burns your eyes you are alive.
When the shiver of cold courses down your spine and a touch makes you recoil you are alive.
When your guts ache with envy and your ears ring with noise you are alive.
When the hum form your bloodstream drowns out your own thoughts you are alive.

As Ibsen once said,
You have only one life.
Once thats gone you don't get another.

START NOW!

Ban weapons.
Switch off the screen.
Get out of your Air conditioned room and experience real life.
Buy a guitar and play it.
Make love to your lover.
Masturbate.
Eat your fill.
Drink with a cheerful companion.
Sail on the ocean and swim in the sea.
Shit with abandon.
Sleep on bare earth.
Fight with your fists and your words - eschew the mechanical tools of death they are for cowards.
Kiss your kids, your parents and your friends.
Sleep easy

Tomorrow is another day