UNLESS you’re an ostrich with your head buried in the sand, you couldn’t have missed the up tick in the rash of mass murders and murder suicides in recent times, in many places in the US. There’s a common thread — one man driven by rage, jealousy, paranoia, desperation, depression over economic pressures, family problems or just plain deranged, decided he can’t take it anymore and instead of committing suicide, decide to inflict murder and mayhem killing several others, either his own family members or total strangers. By last count, there were 7 mass murders committed by ordinary people since the beginning of 2009, with a total casualty count, including the murderers themselves nearing 60 before the first 100 days of the year were over. Is this a social trend? Pundits and talking heads predict that as the recession becomes more firmly entrenched, we can expect more of this type of horror.