Not a Great Start to the Year

Well, 2025 started off violently. 

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an Army veteran with a high paying job at Deloitte, rented a truck, adorned it with an ISIS flag, and intentionally rammed it into a New Orleans crowd, killing 15 and wounding at least 30 before engaging police in a shootout that cost him his own miserable life. 

Pipe bombs were also found in New Orleans, and an AirBnb connected to Din Jabbar was the site of an arson meant, presumably, to destroy evidence. 

The FBI has labeled it a terrorist act. 

In New York, 10 people were shot at a nightclub, in what seems like "just" a common crime. This, on the heels of a homeless woman being burned to death on the subway by a undocumented immigrant. 

In Las Vegas, an active duty US soldier, who had been stationed at the same camp as Din Jabbar, rented a Tesla Cybertruck, loaded it with fireworks and gas canisters, then shot himself and blew up the car outside a Trump hotel, wounding seven. Perhaps it was an anti-Trump statement. Perhaps it was connected to to New Orleans. No one knows right now. 

Plus, on a much less important note, Lu and YaYa have been arguing since New Years Eve. 

Oh, and the ol' pandemic fears are back in the media. Bird flu is all the rage, as is Norovirus (my cousin Jon is actually ill with that right now), and my Mom's floor is on Covid lockdown after a resident tested positive. Plus local health care giant Aurora has temporarily reinstated a masking and visitor policy for itis facilities. 

Man, I hope this year improves.