Another school shooting...

The aftermath of the school shooting in Florida is proceeding along predictable lines. “We need to pray”, said Paul Ryan, Republican speaker of the House of Representatives. What? Pray that God will consider gun control, since no American politician seems able to confront the power and influence of America’s gun lobby?

According to today’s Guardian, questions are now being asked about how Nikolas Cruz, a teenager known widely in his community as a “troubled kid”, who had received sporadic treatment for mental health problems and was expelled from Stoneman Douglas school for violence, had an obsession with firearms and delighted in shooting animals, could so easily buy a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle. He could buy a rifle, legally, but, aged 19, was too young to buy beer…

Another shot of Helmsley licensed today: what's left of the castle keep...