Jean-Luc Picard was a real person!

Well, he wasn't captaining a space ship or anything but a famous Swiss explorer. So famous that Gene Roddenberry named the famous Star Trek character after him. His grandson, Bertrand Picard and André Borschberg are flying a solar-powered plane around the world.

We Really Are Losing All Sense of Civilization

Breaking news out of France that a nut job in Nice just plowed through a crowd of people killing at least 70 and injuring many more as people watched Bastille Day fireworks.

I just can't explain what is going on in the world today. I fear that darker times are coming because I don't think we've even reached rock bottom.

A New Low

I learned that all hell is breaking loose. In the past week two black men died during encounters with police. One of those men, Philando Castile, died in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. I used to live there and I am bewildered by how he died because a shot in the arm should not have killed him. Falcon Heights is a tiny suburb of Saint Paul. Nowhere in that town is more than 5 minutes away from emergency help. The incident happened right next to the University of Minnesota which also has a police force and medics less than ten minutes away.

Again, I am confused. I also have all sorts of questions. Why didn't the officer call for help? What would have happened if he had shot the four year-old kid who was in the car? My nephew is five and already has the mind of a steel trap. Will that child ever forget?

More importantly, I want to know when this will end. I am tired of all the killing. I am tired of all the guns. Retaliation, like the cold and calculated murder of five officers in Dallas that followed, is wrong  and is definitely not the answer.

I am at a loss for words and feel helpless. After all, I have lived here for almost 20 years but I am constantly reminded that this is not my country. What we hear is "If you don't like this country, then go back to your own!"