AN AUSTRALIAN mass murderer, whose name should never be mentioned again, has been sentenced to life without hope of parole in New Zealand.
His guilt was never doubted as he had livestreamed his murder of 51 people and the attempted murder of another 40 people as he shot his way through two Mosques in the city of Christchurch.
From this great tragedy came stories of heroics, as often does in times of need, but no matter what level of courage a person shows, there is no hope against an AR15 semi-automatic rifle at point blank range although this action allowed others to escape to safety.
The murderer arrived with six high power guns and surely no one could argue that was needed to protect his family.
This time of sadness offered insights on the nature of humanity with the evil of one greatly overridden by the strength of faith of the families, many of whom showed not hatred but forgiveness.
Anger would be the expected response but so many were tempered by their better nature. What the murderer did not understand was that the difference between people is what makes the world a better place.
It is often said that tragedies bring people together but why is it at so great a cost?
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Alternative truths be gone
Kellyanne Conway, counselor to US President Donald Trump, is resigning from her position to spend more time with her family. Hopefully she will take the concept of āalternative factsā with her and that it is never mentioned again.
The truth is the truth and facts are facts.
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Facing up to Facebook
I see, in a newspaper, that Facebook is going to block Australiaās news feeds. This is a result of the Australian attempt to make online sites, including Facebook, pay media companies for the content they include in their news feeds.
Oh well, Iāll just have to read the reliable newspapers, listen to the mostly reliable radio news or watch the semi-reliable television news.
So, no change for me and many others. (dfitzger@melbpc.org.au/PN)
