Random thoughts, that seems to be the way my mind works ever since the tragedy of Sept. 11.

At the best of times I’ve never been known to stay on a thought or topic for a sustained period. The staff at Truck News will certainly testify to that. Yet with the horrors of Sept. 11 and the many scenarios that have played out since, I find myself stumbling from one idea or thought to another without a single thread of continuity.

One moment I’ll be so full of anger and vengeance at these terrorist lunatics that I dream of being in on the action bringing Osama to his just conclusion. (As if an out-of-shape executive publisher in his fifties would be required.)

Within minutes of that thought, my mind bolts to the horrible reality of the Afghani people; starving, homeless, shell shocked, oppressed both by a united world and a fanatical regime. Who could possibly deserve this?

I’m a sports fan who can no longer sit through an entire game. If, perchance, I catch the end of a game and some innocent athlete thanks God for his success on the field I feel my anger surge.

I don’t believe God favors one team or another and I sure don’t feel that the crazy beliefs of one wacko or another can be justified by their interpretation of their God of choice. It appears to me that much of man’s inhumanity to man can be attributed to religious intolerance.

Of course, a second later I think of my 87 year-old father, an ordained Anglican minister since 1938, and I think of the great good he has done in his life-long ministry, the thousands of people he has helped.

While I’m criticizing, I’d like to bring up what might seem like a small point. Has the softwood lumber debacle been forgotten? Are those 50,000 job losses I read about weeks ago irrelevant? I hope not.

As you can see, my thoughts flow fitfully of late. I worry about the safety of my family. Can they fly? Can they open an envelope? Damn it, can they walk down the street? I sometimes feel impotent to protect them. I’m not sure what I can do.

One thing I do know is that I’ve never in my life made a good decision in anger. I can only hope that all the powers that be come to the same realization about themselves.