Is anybody out there?

 "The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference -- they deserve a place of honor with all that's good."  You may recall that from the Christmas card of Andy Ogles, who represents the great state of Tennessee in Congress.  Firearms wove their magic spell for Robert Dotson of Farmington, New Mexico, this week, when police knocked on his door and identified themselves as such.  (They were at the wrong house, it seems.)  Either Mr. Dotson didn't believe them or he didn't like police, because he answered the door carrying a handgun.  It isn't clear who fired first, but Mr. Dotson was outgunned and did not survive.  His wife then came to the door with her handgun -- Halloween must be an unnerving experience at 5305 Valley View Avenue -- and opened fire.  After a brief exchange of shots Mrs. Dotson surrendered unharmed.  The police were responding to a "domestic violence" call and may or may not have been wearing body armor.  It seems like a good idea in this neighborhood.

Now I'm not going to belabor the "guns make you safe and free" garbage promulgated by the murder lobby when there's so much to remark upon around the world.  We get so obsessed with our own petty crimes and misdemeanors that we forget there's trouble with a capital T everywhere.  Let's dive.

This week we learned why Nicola Sturgeon resigned as First Minister of Scotland:  Her husband Peter Murrell was arrested in connection with the finances of the Scottish National Party of which he was chief executive.  The police raided their Glasgow home as if looking for body parts.

France continues to see protests from people enraged at the thought of putting off retirement until the age of 64, while Americans can only look on enviously.  This week they set fire to the awning of a Montparnasse restaurant called La Rotonde for no other reason than that Emmanuel Macron likes to eat there.  Fortunately the name of the place he buys his shoes is a state secret.

Junior doctors in the UK have announced a four-day strike against the National Health Service demanding higher pay.  Hospitals are responding by bribing them to cross picket lines and threatening consultants who don't want to work longer hours to cover for them.  One senior doctor says she was threatened with loss of pay if she refuses to work outside her field of specialization.  Just what you want, an oncologist delivering your baby.  

Holy Week in the Holy Land -- come for the Via Dolorosa, stay for the senseless violence.  An Arab-Israeli man rammed his car into a promenade in Tel Aviv, killing an Italian tourist and injuring seven other people.  On the same day in the West Bank two British-Israeli sisters were killed in a shooting that also wounded their mother.  The IDF carried out air strikes on Hamas targets in Lebanon and Gaza after rockets were fired into Israel on Thursday.  The day before that Israeli police raided the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem twice.  And so on.  Why is this night exactly the same as countless others?  It's too depressing to contemplate.

Secret DoD documents relating to NATO, the Middle East and Ukraine are turning up on 4chan, Twitter, Telegram and other sites and Russia appears to be the leaker.  Now where would they have obtained classified documents?  It's a mystery!

Joe Biden is too busy for the coronation but he's delivering a major speech at Ulster University next week, one of the events marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Good Friday accords.  Expect a lot of English noses to be out of joint, as he's also visiting the Republic.  

Jacinda Ardern resigned as prime minister of New Zealand in January but she's not going to disappear into private life.  She'll be working to save the planet as a trustee of the Earthshott Prize, which awards funds for that purpose.  

If you're ready to give up, don't.  Astronomers are listening to a "coherent" radio signal from an exoplanet and the star it orbits, good old YZ Ceti.  It's probably a car insurance commercial but you never know.  Only twelve light years away, too.

(Artist's impression.  Actual planet is much larger and resembles a kumquat.)