Nice, France.

Word has just reached me that a lone terrorist has driven a truck into a crowd of people. 

Nice, located in the Southern coast of France near the Italian border, was the scene of a horrific terrorist attack tonight. At this hour, BBC and French government officials are reporting some 77 people killed and 15 seriously injured.
I believe those numbers may increase as time goes on. According to the news, the terrorist drove a truck (what looked like a 20Ft box delivery van) into a crowd of people who had assembled to watch the Bastille Day fireworks in the Promenade des Anglais. How can anyone see this sort of horrorshow and think this is in any way a good thing ? What vile mix of religion and racism and hate can account for doing this kind of thing ? 77 people who won't be home tomorrow. Whose families will never speak with them again. who had wives, husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends, children and parents. Snuffed out. Was this man a "lone wolf" attacker who "self-radicalized" or was he "Trained by ISIS" ? Does it matter ? I don't believe it does, except in the world of the policeman. The detective, the intelligence officer, the professional investigator. Those people need to know. Questions abound. Will these attacks continue ? Can we actually stop them, or at least slow them down ? Would wiping out Daesh actually help to eliminate these attacks ? Can we defend against and or prevent these attacks without actually becoming repressive "security states" ?

 Some further thoughts :

      I have to wonder if it isn't just a thing that happens around every century. Looking back, some of our most destructive periods have come at the beginning of every century. Think about it. 102 years ago, the first world war started with a series of terrorist attacks that culminated with the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. A Century before that we have the Napoleonic wars. In 1715 we have the Jacobite Rebellion in Scotland, and many other things. Is it really just some kind of pent-up pressure that has to blow off every century or so?  Do things actually just break so we can fix them ? Do levels of education matter ? can we increase the education of children and thus help to break the cycle of violence, or does it just come down to fighting a war every century, or every 3rd generation or whatever it is. I wish I knew, but I'm no philosopher.