Two short clips for you to see the situation both in the UK and Italy at the moment...

I won't say enjoy - I'm sure you will be as saddened as I am!

UK WEATHER SITUATION

FIRES IN ITALY

Before the Deluge

Some of them were dreamers
And some of them were fools
Who were making plans and thinking of the future
With the energy of the innocent
They were gathering the tools
They would need to make their journey back to nature
While the sand slipped through the opening
And their hands reached for the golden ring
With their hearts they turned to each other's heart for refuge
In the troubled years that came before the deluge

Some of them knew pleasure
And some of them knew pain
And for some of them it was only the moment that mattered
And on the brave and crazy wings of youth
They went flying around in the rain
And their feathers, once so fine, grew torn and tattered
And in the end they traded their tired wings
For the resignation that living brings
And exchanged love's bright and fragile glow
For the glitter and the rouge
And in the moment they were swept before the deluge

Now let the music keep our spirits high
And let the buildings keep our children dry
Let creation reveal its secrets by and by
By and by--
When the light that's lost within us reaches the sky

Some of them were angry
At the way the earth was abused
By the men who learned how to forge her beauty into power
And they struggled to protect her from them
Only to be confused
By the magnitude of her fury in the final hour
And when the sand was gone and the time arrived
In the naked dawn only a few survived
And in attempts to understand a thing so simple and so huge
Believed that they were meant to live after the deluge

Now let the music keep our spirits high
And let the buildings keep our children dry
Let creation reveal its secrets by and by
By and by--
When the light that's lost within us reaches the sky--Jackson Browne

When I saw the title of this post, the first thing that came to mind was the horrid triple murder that has occurred in my state. See www.courant.com (today the lead story, called Family Struggles to Cope). It is all we can talk about here.

I am only about an hour away from where this happened, what an awful tragedy.

I read about that and concur with the general population, why waste taxpayers money on a trial.....give those scumbags the same kind of chance they gave that poor family, fry them. When the punishment starts fitting the crime...maybe we will see less horrid events such as this.

Are we the only country where children are the constant target for horrendous acts of violence??

I just don't understand what this world is coming to.....
Lee

AMEN Lee!! I'm with you.....fry 'em.

I can't even address the horror of this in words. Cheshire is a nice suburban town. Two safety concerns come out of this: be careful shopping in the evening, especially the ladies, and make sure to lock all your door when you are asleep. The paper said the mom and youngest girl were shopping at 7:30 at the grocery store. It was still light at 7:30. Very scarey! The perps broke in through an unlocked (broken) cellar door.

Instances of home invasions are on the rise all over. We've had a rash of them here in Southwest Florida. My son-in-law bought a 9mm pistol recently. Personally, I prefer a shotgun. Nothing quite like the sound a round makes when it's chambered to scare the bejezus out of the bastards.
Careful what you do with a weapon though. Laws vary in each state as to what you can and can't do should you have a break in.

Frying those sobs is too good. I'm for burning them at the stake--slooowly. Or maybe putting them in a sack with a few rats, tying it and then throwing it into a river.

Biff

wow Biff....this is a new side of you! I like your thinking!

Texas is a great state. If I feel threatened by you, I can kill you in my home, in my car or at my job....

HOLY COW! Remind me never to mess with any of you!! Seriously though our country is soft on criminals and hard on victims and the "bad people" know it. I have been wanting to leave this big city for a long time - what I have seen here is beyond my comprehension. Even professionals like doctors and such no longer have any moral fiber left. It's sad. Perhaps that is why I spend so much time reseraching the past...

Between the natural disasters, crime and the war......I'm all for hiding out in research......we are slowly destroying our planet, not only ecologically but morally......Look at the Vick situation, how sick is that???

as for the guns, I hate guns, but I own one and will use it to protect myself or my family..I also own a pit bull....not that I wanted him, kinda of inherited him.....he would take somebody down if they dared to harm me,
he is very protective.

I always wanted to move out into the country....an old fashioned farm house with great historical detail....nearest house a mile away....but the events in Connecticut make me want to rethink that.......if something like that can occur in a suburban setting.....then what of a rural setting???

In Illinois, you can legally shoot someone if they have broken into your home, you have a right to protect yourself and your family.
Lee

CATHY! I can't BELIEVE you just said that! It is exactly what I have been feeling! That is too funny... I can't stand the world today and so I like to get lost in my ancestral research. It feels good.

What a tragedy. The same exact thing happened during the winter, in the county above mine. My kids live there..and I have passed this particular house a bazillion times.

Someone killed the mother, father and 3 school aged kids, then set the house on fire. They then took the car, drove it a few blocks away and set that on fire. No clue as to why they did this.

Anyway, they caught the guys..and this was all drug related. However, what does the wife and kids have to do with the husband and drug deals?

The entire area was upset over this. The school system there has one school for several towns. This upset many school kids, since a lot knew these children.

It seems you are not safe anywhere.

Someone posted this on another forum. I think its a good idea.

Car Keys

Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies. This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this: It's a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain.
It works if you park in your driveway or garage If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break in your house, odds are the burglar or rapist won't stick around... after a few seconds all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won't want that. And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there..... This is something that should really be shared with everyone. Maybe it could save a life or a sexual abuse crime.

Would also be useful for any emergency, such as a heart attack, where you can't reach a phone.

My Mom has suggested to my Dad that he carry his car keys with him in case he falls outside and she doesn't hear him. He can activate the car alarm and then she'll know there's a problem.