My thoughts are that many of these issues could be partially alleviated by disconnecting again. Turn off your phone and your computer and your TV for a while; read a book. Or, if you're like my daughter and just have to have some audiovisual input, watch a good movie.

The culture of constant, 24/7 media updates that many people live in has good points, but those are negated to a great extent (in my opinion, and in the opinion of certain evolutionary biologists) by the way our minds are overwhelmed with the sense that the whole world is now our immediate neighborhood.

The same terrible events are happening that were happening before, but when news was 1/2 hour at noon and 1 hour at 6, it was filtered and kept in perspective. Now the news is a constant stream, rather, a flood, and it seems to be happening on our doorsteps, even though it's across the country or around the world. Our perceptions evolved to cope with events in an area something like 50 to 100 miles in diameter, and keep track of events in that neighborhood. Now, our neighborhoods are global, and our evolution hasn't caught up. Something terrible happening across the country seems as immediate as if it's in our living room. It takes a conscious effort to maintain an emotional distance, and it feels heartless to do so. It evokes guilt to take that step back and say, "It's 500 miles away," but it's necessary to do so, or one will be overwhelmed by living other peoples' lives along with them.

It's also helpful to remember that the media is in the business of sensationalizing everything they can. If it bleeds, it leads. While it is true that multiple shootings are at a new high (I dislike the term "mass" when the definition is 4 people shot- what does the word "mass" mean when the floor is 4 people? What's a "weapon of mass destruction", then?), remember that violent crime is down. We're actually still a much safer nation than we were in the Bush administration. Be alert and be aware? Certainly, but by all means, be unafraid.