Blame the cops, the courts, the criminal justice system, Canadian culture in general, the other passengers on that bus, Greyhound security measures (or lack thereof), Canadian social/mental health services, the gun laws, the obviously insane perpetrator -- hey, while we're at it, let's blame the sun too. There was a total Solar Eclipse visible over northern Canada early yesterday morning. Eclipses have been dreaded as harbingers of horror and destruction since time immemorial, are said to be most potent in deadly effect in the areas where they are visible -- so there's plenty of blame to throw around as we attempt to make ourselves feel better.

But when the shock, horror, fear and emotional outrage subside, maybe we'll be able to stop blaming and see the truth more clearly --- that this was a most rare, isolated, horrific tragedy nobody could have foreseen or prevented. There is no one and nothing to blame. Not even the attacker himself, if he was in the grip of some sort of psychotic episode and had never been diagnosed with a mental illness or committed a crime before. To call for the death penalty, and deride the police for not shooting him down onsite like a rabid dog is to say you'd prefer to live in some sort of fascist police state.

No, thank you. I much prefer my country as is, weaknesses, faults and all.

My deepest condolences go out to that poor kid's family nad friends, and to the other unfortunates on that bus.

and as one who knows what it is to be attacked by a hulking stranger after falling asleep in a public place, I will say this -- maybe one lesson to be learned here is, ALWAYS be on your guard and never NEVER ALLOW YOURSELF TO FALL ASLEEP IN PUBLIC, AMIDST TOTAL STRANGERS.